COMMON SNIPE 277 



as the Green Sandpiper, not only perch on. trees, but breed 

 in them. 



The Snipe seems to depend largely on the light reflected 

 from the moon to guide it on its night-flights to and from 

 its feeding-grounds. With a full moon it travels far and 

 wide, and distributes itself about the swamps, rivulets, and 

 bog-lands of hill and dale, as well as along the ooze of our 

 tidal estuaries, and if moonlight should fail before morning, 

 the bird will often remain where darkness has overtaken it. 

 In hard, frosty weather, many betake themselves to the 

 sand-flats of our coasts, or assemble on low-lying bog-lands 

 in the vicinity of the sea. ' Wisps,' ranging from thirty 

 to one hundred birds, are not uncommon in these localities, 

 but it must not be inferred, from the numbers seen together, 

 that a migration has just taken place. Indeed, ' wisping ' 

 is rather uncommon before midwinter, when the southern 

 migratory movement has come to a standstill. After a 

 bright night, and in stormy weather accompanied by a heavy 

 rainfall, the birds sleep on comparatively dry ground, such 

 as meadow-land, islands, and shores of inland lakes. This 

 habit is characteristic of Woodcocks also. 



If the night be very dark, Snipe seldom wander far from 

 their nesting-haunts, preferring, in the absence of moonlight, 

 to feed by day in the marshes and bog-lands. 



Food. Small worms, insects, slugs, snails, and such 

 small creatures as are found in soft mud, constitute the diet. 

 When feeding, the bird walks slowly about, with its head 

 bent low and the point of its beak almost scraping the 

 ground. As it traverses the mud, it bores in all directions, 

 procuring its food and eating it before withdrawing the 

 point of its beak from the soil. The Snipe is said to have a 

 keen sense of hearing : it is supposed to stand and listen to 

 the movements of worms underground, and it may be seen 

 suddenly plunging its beak into the mud, at the spot from 

 whence the sound proceeded, and seizing its food. I doubt 

 this theory ; it is more probable that the worm makes the 

 soil move and the bird detects this by the eye. 



Voice. When flushed from cover, a rather harsh sound 

 resembling the syllables, skaisk, skaisk, or, as it is often 

 syllabled, scape, scape, is uttered. 



Flight. The flight is remarkably rapid, and few of us 

 are unacquainted with the wonderful impetus with which 

 this bird launches itself into the air, followed by the extra- 

 ordinary zig-zag movements performed on the wing imme- 



