268 ORALLY. SCOLOPACID^. 



where, however, they are all more or less migratory 

 in their habits. The majority of them frequent 

 marshes, the banks of lakes and rivers, or the sea- 

 coast, on which they run with great swiftness. A 

 few species aifect the shade of woods and cop- 

 pices, but even these select, as favourite resorts, 

 the most humid spots they can find. They lay 

 four eggs, of a somewhat conical form, with but 

 little nest ; and the business of incubation is per- 

 formed on the ground of inland moors and fens. 

 The young are able to run about as soon as they 

 escape from the shell ; when they are clothed with 

 down. With the exception of a very few poly- 

 gamous species, the females are larger than the 

 males. Many of them feed, and perform their 

 migrations during the night, and these have the 

 eye very large in proportion to the head. 



GENUS SCOLOPAX. (LiNN.) 



The following are the generic characters of the 

 restricted Snipes, inclusive of the Woodcocks, 

 The beak is lengthened, straight, flattened at the 

 base, slightly curved at the tip, where it is dilated ; 

 the tip of the lower mandible fitting into the 

 tipper ; the legs and feet are slender, moderately 

 long; the wings moderate, the first or second 

 quills the longest. 



Of the five species of this genus which are met 

 with in England, either permanently or occa- 

 sionally, we select the Common Snipe (Scolopax 

 gallinago, LINN.) to illustrate the Family. Its 

 ground colour is a rich dark brown, so deep in 

 some parts as to be almost black, variously spotted, 

 striped and banded with white, which, on the 



