^popular UBirttouarn at &mmattff Mature. 627 



and pale rufous : the tip of the tail is com- 

 monly of a pule reddUh yellow; and the 

 legs pale green. The Snipe frequents marshy 

 1-1 aces and wet meadows, and, in frosty wea- 

 ther, the edges of rushy hills, where it is 

 almost constantly dicing and nibbling in 

 the soft mud. Their food consists of worms, 

 insects, slugs, &c., which abound in Mich 

 places. In these retreats, when undisturbed, 

 the Snipe walks leisurely, with its head erect, 

 and at intervals moving its tail. When dis- 

 turbed, it usually springs, and takes flight 

 beyond the reach of the gun, turning nimbly 

 in a zigzag direction for two or three hun- 

 dred puces, and sometimes soaring almost 

 out of sight. 



The Snipe, like the Woodcock, shuns the 

 extremes of heat and cold, by keeping upon 

 the bleak moors in summer, and seeking the 

 shelter of the valleys in winter. In severe 

 frosts and storms of snow, driven by the ex- 

 tremity of the weather, they seek the un- 

 frozen boggy places, springy rills, or any open 

 streamlet of water, and there they will some- 

 times sit till nearly trodden upon l>cf'ore they 

 will tuke to flight. Although it is well 

 known that numbers of Snipes leave Great 

 Britain in the spring, and return in the 

 autumn, yet it is equally well ascertained 

 that many constantly remain and breed in 

 various parts of the country ; for their nests 

 and young ones have been so often found us 

 to leave no doubt of the fact. The female 

 makes her nest (which is very inartiflcmlly 

 composed of withered grasses and a few fea- 

 thers) in some retired spot, generally under 

 the stump of an alder or willow. The eggs, 

 which are large and generally four in number, 

 are pale-yellowish or greenish-white with 

 rather elongated rusty spots at the big end. 

 Sir Humphrey Davy describes the parent 

 birds as exceedingly attached to their young, 

 and says that if any one approach their nest, 

 they make a loud and drumming noise above 

 the head of the intruder, as if to divert his 

 attention. The young birds run off soon 

 after they leave the shell, but they are at- 

 tended by their parent*) until their bills have 

 acquired a sufficient firmness to enable them 

 to provide for themselves. The Snipe is a 

 very fat bird, but its fat does not cloy, and 

 very rarely disagrees even with the weakest 

 stomachs. It is much esteemed as a delicious 

 and well-flavoured dish. 



The JACK-SXIPE, or JTOCOCK, (Scolopax 

 gallinula), in its figure and plumage very 

 much resembles the Snipe ; but it seldom 

 exceeds two ounces in weight, or is above 

 eight inches and a half in length. The bill 

 is black at the tip, and light towards the base. 

 A black streak passes over the head length- 

 wise ; and another of a yellowish colour over 

 each eye. The neck is white, spotted with 

 brown and pale red. The scapulars and 

 tertials are very long and beautiful ; being 

 bordered on their exterior edges with a stripe 

 of yellow, and the inner webs streaked with 

 bright rust colour on a bronze ground, re- 

 flecting shades of purple and green. The 

 rump is glossy violet ; the abdomen and 

 vent white ; the tail dark brown, edged with 

 rust colour ; legs dull green. In its general 



habits this bird resembles the common Snipe: 

 it feeds upon the same kinds of food, lives 

 and breeds in the same swamps and marshes, 

 and conceals itself from the sportsman with 

 as great circums|>ection, among the rushes or 

 tuns of coarse grass. It differs, however, in 

 this, that it seldom rises from its lurking 

 place until it is almost trampled upon, and, 

 when flushed, does not fly to so great a 

 distance. It seldom abandons for any length 

 of time the place it has once fixed upon ; and 

 though roused from it, and fired at re- 

 peatedly, perhaps, through the day. neither 

 the noise nor any sense of danger seem* to 

 alarm it ; and if we should seek for the little 

 Judcock on the following morning, in all 

 likelihood we should find it at its spring 

 again. 



SNOUT [MOTHS]. A name applied by 

 collectors to various Moths of the genera 

 Hypena, Crambtu, and Cledeobia. 



SNOW-BUNTING. The Emberiza Ni- 

 valis. [See Bujmxo.] 



SNOW-GOOSE. [See GOOSE.] 

 SOLAN-GOOSE. [See GASKET.] 

 SOLDIER BEETLE. [See TELEI>IIO- 



KUS.] 



SOLE. (Plewonecte* tolea.) This well- 

 known and much esteemed fish is most 

 abundant on the sandy shores all round our 

 coast, where it keeps close to the bottom, 

 preying on the smaller testaceous animals, 

 and the spawn and fry of other fishes. It is 

 also an inhabitant of the Northern Baltic, 

 Mediterranean, and American seas. The 

 form of the body is a long oval, widest at a 

 short distance behind the head, becoming 

 gradually narrower and rather pointed 

 towards the tail. It sometimes grows to the 



BOT.K. (Pt,lTORONZCTK8 8OI.KA.) 



length of two feet, and to the weight of six 

 or eight pounds : its general size, however, 

 is much smaller. Its colour is obscure 

 brown above, and white beneath ; it is co- 

 vered with small rough scales of an oblong 

 form, each terminated by numerous spines, 

 and very strongly fastened to the skin. The 

 head is small ; the eyes and mouth of mode- 

 rate size ; both jaws furnished with minute 

 teeth on the under or white side of the fish 

 only ; the eyes small. Soles seldom take 

 any bait, but are almost entirely taken by 

 traivling. At Hastings, Brighton, and the 

 great fishing station at Brixham in Torbay, 

 and, indeed, nearly all along the southern 

 and western coast of England, they are taken 

 in great numbers. They are also caught on 

 various ports of the Irish coast : and Mr. 



3 u 2 



