SNIPE 



COMMON SNIPE WHOLE SNIPE HEATHER-BLEATER. 



PLATE CLXXIII. FIGURE I. 



Scolopax gallinago, . . . PENNANT. MONTAGU. 

 Scolopax gallinaria, . . . GMELIN. 

 Gallinago ccelestis, . . . FRENZEL. 



'""T V O WARDS the end of March, or beginning of April, 

 1 the male Snipe begins to " call " for a mate. The nest 

 is commonly placed in the middle of a tuft of grass, rushes, 

 or heather, in a shallow depression in the surface ; by the 

 side of water, as also among the heather where watery spots 

 abound on the hillside, often at an elevation of from five 

 hundred to a thousand feet above the level of the plain. A 

 few chance stalks furnish its lining, if any be provided at 

 all, which is not always the case. 



The eggs are four in number, and of a very large size 

 in proportion to that of the bird ; their colour is pale 

 yellowish or greenish white, blotted at the larger end with 

 two or three shades of brown. Some are spotted all over 

 with small spots ; some are of a clear green ground, and 

 others olive brown. Six eggs have several times been 

 found in one nest, as mentioned by the Rev. G. Low, in 

 his Fauna Orcadenis, but they doubtless must have been the 

 joint contribution of two birds. 



