SCOLOPACID^E. 115 



The Woodcock is an early breeder, but does not 

 often remain to breed in this country. However, the 

 nest has been occasionally taken here. Mr. Royce 

 found a nest of this bird, in 1857 or 1858, with eggs, 

 in Winkfield Park. The eggs have been taken near 

 Beaconsfield, and I procured a good example from a 

 wood near Burnham in the spring of 1867. A few 

 pairs have been known to breed for several successive 

 years near Stoke ; and /this bird has nested in New- 

 woods, Burnham, for several seasons. The Rev. H. 

 Burney, of Woburn, wrote Mr. James Britten word 

 that the Woodcock breeds in the woods at Brickhill, 

 near Woburn, nearly every year. This bird leaves us, 

 as a rule, about the end of February. 



Mr. Dalziel Mackenzie tells me that he saw eight 

 Woodcocks on the I3th of December, 1859, near 

 Fawley, and one of these birds he saw perch on a 

 large oak, where it remained until disturbed. 



COMMON SNIPE (Scolopax gallinago}. This well- 

 known bird is a winter visitant, and in hard weather 

 a good many couple are shot along the banks of 

 the Thames and other rivers, and it may generally 

 be obtained wherever there is any marshy ground. 

 The nest of the Snipe is a very slight structure, 

 and is placed on the ground, well concealed in 

 long grass, generally in the vicinity of water. A nest 

 has been several times discovered on East Burnham 

 Common, where eggs of the Woodcock have also been 

 taken. Snipe's eggs have been procured from open 



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