200 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



clear, and are in consequence the next day on the 

 move, and of course wild, watchful, and hard to 

 find. With a bright moon they feed as they like, 

 and are torpid and lay well the following day. On 

 such nights Snipe travel to high lands and moun- 

 tain slopes, if near ; flying some distance in search 

 of food, and distributing their numbers evenly 

 through the country. But should the nights be 

 dark, a few will only be found, and those in wisps, 

 congregated in the bogs and soft spots, which are 

 so well known to the birds that they are easily 

 discovered in the thickest weather. The common 

 Snipe breeds in most counties of Ireland, but most 

 abundantly in the south-west and south. The first 

 egg is generally laid about April ist, but I have 

 found a nest with two eggs as early as March 2Oth. 



About a month before this date they may be 

 heard emitting that singular sound which has been 

 variously described as " humming," " drumming," 

 and " bleating." The mode in which this curious 

 noise is produced has puzzled many an observer, 

 and various explanations have been suggested ; 

 some favouring the view that it is a vocal sound, 

 others maintaining that it is produced by the action 

 of the wing-feathers or tail-feathers, or both, in the 

 bird's rapid descent through the air. This question, 

 I notice, has been fully examined and commented 

 upon in an interesting article by Mr. J. E. Harting, 

 in The Zoologist, for April, 1881. 



Snipe and Cock, during the nesting season, will 

 remain squatted in the herbage motionless, on the 

 chance of their being passed by unperceived. Snipe 

 are very fond of building in partly isolated tufts of 



