COMMON SNIPE. 305 



a curious variety, and the one before mentioned in 

 Mr. Master's collection, procured in the spring of the 

 year. 



Messrs. Frederick and Percy Godman, in a commu- 

 nication to the "Ibis" (1861, p. 87), state that of several 

 nests found by them in 1857, in a marsh at Bodo,* in 

 Norway, between the 24th and 27th of June (nearly a 

 month after the arrival of the birds) the eggs, four in 

 number, were deposited in a slight hollow scraped in the 

 surrounding moss, usually " on the edge of a small 

 hillock quite open/' and with neither grass nor leaves 

 in them ; but in one instance, and one only, they found 

 that the sitting bird persistently covered itself with 

 moss, as a protection, no doubt, against the prying eyes 

 of the magpies and crows, as well as other dangerous 

 bipeds. An instinctive act very similar to that of the 

 woodcock before noticed, which, by way of concealment, 

 endeavoured to burv itself in the leaves. 



SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO, Llnnseus. 



COMMON SNIPE. 



When the veteran sportsman, whose experience dates 

 back to the close of the last century, dilates on the 

 snipe shooting exploits of his early days, by some, 

 perhaps, the old man's tale may be listened to merely 

 with courteous incredulity ; but those who have marked 

 the marvellous changes effected within their own recol- 

 lection by drainage and cultivation, will receive the 



* Mr. Alfred Newton informs me that in 1864, only seven years 

 afterwards, he found this marsh had been completely drained, a 

 striking instance of the destruction of the breeding places of 

 various birds which is going on all over the world. 

 2 R 



