3 6 SNIPE. 



SNIPE. 



COMMON SNIPE. WHOLE SNIPE. SNITE. 

 HEATHER-BLEATER. 



PLATE CLXXIII. FIGURE I. 



Scolopax gallinago, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



Scolopax gallinaria, GMELIN. 



Gallinago media, SHAW. 



ryiOWARDS the end of March, or beginning of 

 -- April, 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 hill side, 

 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, some light blue, and others olive brown. 

 Six eggs have several times been found in one nest, as 



