174 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



becoming more numerous in the former country as we pro- 

 ceed northward. In winter our native birds receive vast 

 accessions from the more northern parts of Europe; these 

 move in search of food from one suitable locality to another, 

 even entering gardens in very severe weather, in search, it 

 has been conjectured, of the moisture retained between the 

 leaves of the plants. The food of this species, worms, in- 

 sects, etc., is sought for by thrusting the bill into the soft 

 ground or mud, and is discovered by the exquisite sensi- 

 bility of that organ. Out of the British Islands, the Com- 

 mon Snipe extends over Europe and the adjacent parts of 

 Asia. The nest of this species is very slight, being formed 

 of a few dry vegetable substances placed in a depression on 

 some tuft or hillock near swampy spots or marshes, though 

 Mr. Hewitson mentions, as a curious circumstance, that in 

 Foula, the most westerly of the Shetland Islands, he found 

 several of the nests of this bird among heather and far up 

 the side of a mountain. Generally however the situations 

 which we first described are those selected by the bird for 

 its nest. The eggs, four in number, vary in colour, but are 

 usually of a warm greenish hue spotted with brown at the 

 larger end, or sometimes richly dashed with longitudinal 

 markings of brown, which soften off into a paler neutral 



