COMMON SNIPE. 347 



gonal cells, which afford at the same time protection, and 

 space for the expansion, of minute portions of nerves sup- 

 plied to them by two branches of the fifth pair ; and the end 

 of the bill becomes, in consequence of this provision, a deli- 

 cate organ of touch, to assist these birds when boring for 

 their food in soft ground ; this enlarged extremity of the 

 beak possessing such a degree of sensibility as to enable these 

 birds to detect their prey the instant it comes in contact 

 with it, although placed beyond the reach of sight. The 

 food of the Snipe consists of worms, insects, small shells 

 with their animal inhabitants, and minute seeds ; these last 

 swallowed probably while adhering to the glutinous surface 

 of its more usual animal food. An interesting account of 

 a tame Snipe occurs in ' The Zoologist,' p. 1640. When the 

 feeding-ground of the Snipes becomes limited by the effects of 

 frost and snow, the birds suffer greatly, and soon become very 

 thin. The severe winters of 1878-79, and of 1880-81, caused 

 great havoc, the unfortunate birds being reduced to skeletons, 

 and even in that condition they were not spared in Ireland, 

 the fishermen actually dragging their herring-nets by night 

 over the unfrozen spots, to hawk their miserable prey about 

 the country at a penny apiece.* The weight of an ordinary 

 bird is about four ounces ; but the late late Mr. Lubbock has 

 recorded one which weighed nearly eight ounces, and another 

 of quite that weight was recorded from Cardigan in ' The 

 Field' of 16th December, 1882. Mr. Lubbock's bird, and 

 one shot by Mr. Stevenson, appear to have belonged to a 

 large form of a russet-brown hue, which has also been 

 noticed by the late Mr. Rodd in Cornwall, and which 

 has occurred in many other parts of England. Mr. Gould 

 was at one time inclined to consider that it might be 

 entitled to specific distinction, in which case he proposed for 

 it the name of Gallinago russata. An individual which 

 happened to possess sixteen tail-feathers, the outer ones 

 being elongated, received the name of Scolopax brehmi from 

 Kaup. 



In winter the beak is dark brown at the end, pale reddish- 



* The Fowler in Ireland, p. 213. 



