COMMON SNIPE. 329 



witnesses, both marshmen and sportsmen, resident near 

 the broads. It would seem, however, that this habit 

 is confined entirely to the breeding season, all the 

 instances I have heard of in this county having occurred 

 in the summer months ; and where a tree or a marsh- 

 mill stands conveniently near the nest there is no doubt 

 that one or other of the parent birds will occasionally 

 settle upon it. Most frequently, I imagine, the male 

 bird whilst the hen is sitting.* Both Mr. Blofeld and 

 his marshman, William Hewitt, assure me that they 

 have witnessed this fact in several instances at Hoveton ; 

 and on one occasion, when sailing in the Norwich river, 

 Mr. Robert Pratt, of Surlingham, observed a snipe 

 perched on a mill sail near the shore, and a young lad 

 with him at the time having shot the bird, sitting, 

 brought it on board the boat. A relative of my own, 

 the Rev. J. C. Matchett, well accustomed to the Broad 

 district as an angler, as well as snipe shooter in former 

 days, assures me that many years ago, at Ran worth, 

 in the spring of the year, he saw a snipe perch on a 

 "notice" board which stood on a marsh near the 

 side of the river. Mr. F. Mills also, an observing 

 naturalist as well as sportsman, informs me that in 

 two successive years, when residing near Horning 

 Ferry, he saw a snipe perch on the branch of a tree, 

 and on the last occasion pointed it out to a friend who 

 had been sceptical on the point up to that time. The 

 gamekeeper, who has charge of the Gullery at Scoulton, 

 has frequently seen a snipe perch on the summit of a 



* It is possible, also, although I have no data to prove this, 

 that it occurs only when the upper branches of the tree have 

 been struck by lightning, or from other causes are bare of leaves ; 

 thus presenting, as in the case of the mill sails, a clear surface. 

 We all know that swallows mostly, though not invariably, select 

 the dead wood, near the summit of a tree, as a resting place for 

 themselves and young. 



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