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SCOLOPACIDjE. SNIPES. 



Under this term we include a great variety of forms, 

 agreeing in some of their habits, and typically represented 

 by the Snipes and Woodcocks* They* chiefly frequent 

 marshes, or the shores and banks of coasts and rivers, re- 

 tiring inland to the moors, fens, and other suitable situa- 

 tions to breed. None of them possess gay plumage; but, 

 although chaste, the colouring is often very beautiful. The 

 flesh of many of them is much esteemed. They incubate 

 on the ground, with little or no nest, and usually lay four 

 eggs : the young run immediately on being hatched. Several 

 of the genera feed, and perform their migrations, by night, 

 and have the eye large and suited to these habits. The bill 

 is frequently furnished with nerves, which render it exqui- 

 sitely sensitive, and, even while it is buried in the earth, 

 enable the bird to discover the food with which it thus 

 comes into contact. The locomotive powers of the family 

 are great, and its distribution is extensive, indeed we may 

 say, world-wide. 



THE WOODCOCK. Scolopax rmticola. It is during the 

 winter season that the Woodcock is most abundant in this 

 country, arriving in considerable numbers in autumn, and 



