2*8 THE COMMON SNIPE 



sensitive, and enables the bird to discover by the touch the worms 

 which, being buried in mud, are concealed from its sight. Snipes 

 when disturbed always fly against the wind, so when suddenly 

 scared from their feeding-ground, and compelled to rise without 

 any previous intention on their part, they seem at first uncertain 

 which course to take, but twist and turn without making much 

 progress in any direction ; but in a few seconds, having decided on 

 their movements, they dart away with great rapidity, uttering at 

 the same time a sharp cry of two notes, which is difficult to describe, 

 but once heard can scarcely be mistaken. When a bird on such 

 an occasion is fired at, it often happens that a number of others, 

 who have been similarly occupied, rise at the report, and after 

 having performed a few mazy evolutions, dart off in the way 

 described. At other times they he so close that beween the sportsman 

 and the bird which he has just killed there may be others concealed, 

 either unconscious of danger, or trusting for security to their powers 

 of lying hid. This tendency to lie close, or the reverse, depends 

 much on the weather, though why it should be so seems not to have 

 been decided. But the movements of Snipes generally are governed 

 by laws of which we know little or nothing. At one season they 

 will be numerous in a certain marsh ; the next year perhaps not 

 one will visit the spot ; to-day, they will swarm in a given locality ; 

 a night's frost will drive them all away, and a change of wind a few 

 days after will bring them all back again. If very severe weather 

 sets in they entirely withdraw, but of this the reason is obvious ; 

 the frozen state of the marsh puts a stop to their feeding. They 

 then retire to milder districts, to springs which are never frozen, 

 to warm nooks near the sea, or to salt marshes. Perhaps the 

 majority perform a second migration southwards ; for, as a rule, 

 they are most numerous at the two periods of autumn and spring — 

 that is, while on their way to and from some distant winter- 

 quarters. After March they become far less frequent, yet there 

 are few extensive marshes, especially in Scotland and the north of 

 England, where some do not remain to breed. At this season a 

 striking change in their habits makes itself perceptible. A nest is 

 built of withered grass, sometimes under the shelter of a tuft of 

 heath or reeds, and here the female sits closely on four eggs. The 

 male, meanwhile, is feeding in some neighbouring swamp, and if 

 disturbed, instead of making off with his zig-zag winter's flight, 

 utters his well-remembered note and ascends at a rapid rate into 

 the air, now ascending with a rapid vibration of wing, wheeling, 

 falling like a parachute, mounting again, and once more descending 

 with fluttering wings, uttering repeatedly a note different from his 

 cry of alarm, intermixed with a drumming kind of noise, which 

 has been compared to the bleat of a goat. This last sound is pro- 

 duced by the action of the wings, assisted by the tail-feathers, in his 

 descents. One of its French names is Chevre volant, flying goat, and 



