370 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



The female is practically like the male, except 

 that she is a trifle larger. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, in a 

 tuft of long coarse grass, amongst rushes or heather, 

 generally hidden by an overhanging tuft of half- 

 dead grass. In wet pasture-lands, marshes, and 

 swamps, near tarns and bogs, in suitable localities 

 throughout the United Kingdom. 



Materials. A few dry grass stalks, slender 

 sprigs of dead heather, or other bits of herbage, used 

 as a lining ; sometimes hardly anything at all. 



Eggs. Four ; ground-colour varying from olive- 

 green to greyish-yellow ; spotted and blotched with 

 blackish-brown, light brown, and underlying mark- 

 ings of grey. The markings are generally most 

 numerous at the larger end, and the eggs are sharply 

 pointed at the smaller. Size about 1.58 by i.i in. 

 (See Plate IX.) 



Time. April and May, although nests containing 

 eggs have been found as early as the third week in 

 March, and I have found them quite fresh as late as 

 the end of July. 



Remarks. Resident, but subject to local migra- 

 tion. Notes : tjick-tjuck, tjick-tjuck, uttered both 

 whilst the bird is perched and between the drum- 

 mings when it is on the wing at dusk and on dull 

 days. Local and other names : Hammer Blate, 

 Whole Snipe, Heather Bleater. Sits closely, and 

 simulates lameness when flushed, in order to draw 

 the intruder away from its eggs. The male bird 

 helps the female to feed and take care of the 

 chicks, as I proved when I photographed both 

 birds covering their offspring, figured on the 

 previous page. 



