COMMON SANDPIPER. 163 



The Summer Snipe visits us in April, about the 20th., 

 and leaves us by about the end of September, or earlier in 

 August according to the state of the season. They arrive 

 singly or in pairs, and travel by night. Before starting they 

 fly about in a restless manner, uttering their whistling note. 



It is a bird of lively and active habits, and it is pleasant 

 to watch it running nimbly along the water's edge, by the 

 side of a still lake or pond, or the bank of the rapid or 

 the slow stream, the large or the small river, in the summer 

 time, or treading lightly over the beautiful leaves of the 

 water-lily, which float so buoyant themselves on the crystal 

 surface. It is seldom seen on the shore of the sea, but the 

 situations mentioned are all alike congenial to its taste, 

 whether in a hilly or a fiat country, an open or a wooded 

 district. It can both swim and dive well; even the young, 

 if need appear to be, .take fearlessly to the water, and remove 

 underneath the surface to a considerable distance. One has 

 been known thus to seek and find safety from the pursuit 

 of a Hawk. The wings are used in progression underneath. 



It is almost constantly in motion, and has, like so many 

 other birds, a habit of flirting its tail up and down, while 

 the head and neck are thrust forward in a nodding manner, 

 or again retracted during the search for food. If disturbed 

 during the period of incubation, 'the female quits the nest 

 as quietly as possible, and usually flies to a distance, making 

 at this time no outcry; as soon, however, as the young are 

 hatched, her manners completely alter, and the greatest 

 agitation is expressed on the apprehension of danger; and 

 every stratagem is tried, such as feigning lameness, and 

 inability of flight, to divert the attention of the intruder 

 from the unfledged brood:' both parents indeed are clamorous 

 at this season, ignorant of the worldly maxim that 'speech 

 was given to us to conceal our thoughts.' These birds perch 

 at times on roots and stumps by the water side. Small 

 flocks of a dozen or fourteen may at times be seen together, 

 or up to twenty or thirty; but they do not associate very 

 closely or determinedly together, each individual following its 

 own inclination, both when on the ground and in flying off, 

 or alighting. 



It flies with ease and celerity; if to a distance, at a 

 moderate height; but if otherwise, it proceeds a little way, 

 and commonly settles on the opposite side to that which it 

 had left. 'Its flight/ says Selby, 'is graceful, though peculiar, 



