OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 291 



G. austraUs, an inhabitant of Japan in summer, passing the coast of China and 

 the Philippine Islands on migration, and wintering in the Australian portion of 

 the Intertropical realm. The individuals of this species visiting South Australia 

 and Tasmania most likely breed there, or, on the other hand, must be classed as 

 abnormal migrants. Distinguished from the Great Snipe by having eighteen tail 

 feathers, the two outermost only being narrow, and by having the wing six inches 

 or over in length. G. cequatorialis, an inhabitant of Africa south of the Great 

 Desert. Distinguished from all other birds of this genus by its having the ground- 

 colour of the four outer tail feathers on each side white, and the medium wing 

 coverts narrowly tipped with buff. 



Habits. Although the Great Snipe is but accidental in its visits to our 

 islands, its migrations (undertaken at night) in Continental Europe and in Asia 

 are very marked and regular. It crosses the Mediterranean during March and 

 April a month earlier in the east than the west (which is an exceptional passage) 

 and arrives at its breeding grounds in Norway and Sweden from the middle to 

 the end of May. Seebohm found that it was one of the latest birds to arrive 

 in the latitude of the Arctic circle, not doing so in the Petchora Valley until 

 the 3rd of June, and eight days later still in the Yenisei Valley in Siberia. The 

 haunts of the Great Snipe are in swamps, especially those where patches of 

 bare mud or sand occur ; and the marshy margins of rivers and lakes, where tall 

 rank grass, sedges, and other aquatic vegetation furnish plenty of cover. Its 

 habits are very similar to those of its congeners. It delights to skulk amongst 

 the herbage, remaining buried under the grass and sedge until almost trodden 

 upon before it rises. Its flight, however, is neither so erratic nor so rapid as 

 that of the Common Snipe, and the tail is much more expanded ; the bird makes 

 a considerable whirr as it rises. Like that bird, however, it feeds principally at 

 dusk or by the light of the moon, then wandering from its favourite cover on to 

 the more open parts of its haunts, where it struts about in a timorous kind of 

 way in search of food, at the least alarm hiding amongst or behind the nearest 

 tuft of vegetation. Its food consists principally of worms, but insects and their 

 larvae, as well as slugs, are also eaten. Whilst in quest of food the Great Snipe 

 often wanders into districts which it does not usually frequent turnip fields, 

 and grass lands, and dry commons. Seldom more than a pair of these birds are 

 flushed in one particular spot during autumn and winter, but on migration and 

 in the pairing season much more gregarious tendencies are developed. 



Nidification. In the pairing season parties of male birds appear often to 

 collect and go through various strange antics on the ground and in the air. 

 Seebohm, who has had exceptional opportunities of observing this species at 

 its nesting grounds, relates how he has often watched them at a distance of 

 from fifteen to twenty yards, whilst concealed among willow bushes, " stretch 



