92 LAKES AND RIVERS. 



ing. It is said to have bred in Great Britain, but 

 this is doubted by most naturalists. It is fond of 

 nestling on the low grounds, and it is therefore 

 thought by some that it may hide itself in out-of-the- 

 way marshy spots, where it would be difficult to find 

 in the breeding season. 



All the snipes quit the shores to breed inland. 

 They fly chiefly by night, which adds to the difficulty 

 of ascertaining the locality of shy and migratory birds. 

 They like bogs which have here and there tufts of 

 grass and sedge, forming little islands in the sea of 

 swamp and mud, and where they are safe from the 

 boat as well as from the pedestrian. The unfre- 

 quented cold, damp country, where plants decay and 

 there is progress towards desolation, is unfavourable 

 for species of this kind, as in time it affords neither 

 food nor shelter. The eggs of the Jack Snipe are 

 similar in markings, but a little smaller than the 

 common snipe. 



The Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanura, genus 

 Limosa) is one of those birds which are excellent for 

 the table, and which our ancestors formerly kept in 

 cages and fattened for their feasts. The bill curves 

 slightly upwards, like the avocet. In its breeding 

 plumage the head is reddish-brown, streaked with 

 black, and dusky ; the lower part of the neck behind, 

 the back and scapulars, are black barred with brown. 

 A dull white streak passes over the eye, below which 

 the cheeks, neck, and breast are pale reddish-brown. 

 In winter the brown changes to gray, and the black 

 to brown. It varies much in size, the average 

 being about 17 inches in length, by about 2 feet 



