316 HISTORY OF 



iiig half way up the thigh. The nudity in that part, is partly 

 natural, and partly produced by all birds of this kind habitually 

 wading in water. The older the bird, the barer are its thighs ; 

 yet even the young ones have not the same downy covering 



pondent acquainted him in answer, that no woodcocks had yet arrived ; but 

 that on tlie tliird day from his writing, if the weather continued as it then 

 was, there would be plenty. The state of the atmosphere remained un. 

 changed, the visitors came as it was asserted they would, and the gentleman 

 received the number of birds he had ordered. — From ali these circumstances 

 we concluded, that woodcocks are actually migratory birds, that they retu'e 

 from Eugland wlien the temperature of our climate becomes too warm for 

 them, take their flight to more northerly regions, aud return to our coast as 

 soon as the cold of these liigher latitudes render it unpleasing for them to 

 remain." 



The Snipes, tliough agreeing very much in external resemblance M-ith the 

 woodcocks, diiier from them in natural habits. They do not inhabit woods, 

 but remain in the marshy parts of meadows, in the herbage, and amongst 

 the osiers which are on the banks of rivers. They are still more generally 

 spread than the woodcocks, and there are no portions of the globe in which 

 some of them have not been found. They are observed to be incessantly 

 employed in picking the ground, ar.u Aldrovandus has remarked that they 

 have the tongue terminating in a sharp point, proper for piercing the small 

 worms, wliich, probably, constitute their food ; for though nothing is found 

 in their stomachs but liquid, and an earthy sediment, it must be that such 

 soft bodies as worms, &c. dissolve there very quickly, aud that the earth 

 which enters along with them, is the only substance unsusceptible of lique- 

 faction. 



Autumn is the season for the arrival of the common snipe in most of the 

 southern and western countries of Europe. It then extends through mea- 

 dows, marshes, bogs, and along the banks of streams and rivers. When it 

 walks, it carries the head erect, without either hopping or fluttering, and 

 gives it a horizontal movement, while the tail moves up and down. When 

 it tiikes flight, it rises so high as often to be heard after it is lost sight of. 

 Its cry has been sometimes likened to that of the she.goat. 



The snipes for the most part, migrating northwards, in the spring, nestle 

 in Germany, Switzerland, Silesia, &c. Some, however, continue in their , 

 more southeru stations, making their nest in the month of June, under the 

 root of some alder or willow, in a sheltered place. This nest is composed 

 of dry plants aud feathers, and the female lays four or five oblong eggs, of a 

 wlutish tint, spotted with red. If the female be disturbed during incuba- 

 tion, she rises very high, and in a right line, then utters a particular cry, 

 and re-descends with great rapidity. While the female is hatching, the 

 male is frequently observed to hover around her, uttering a kind of hissing 

 noise. The young quit the nest on issuing from the shell, and then appear 

 very ugly and deformed. Until their bill grows firm, the mother continues 

 her care of them, and does not leave them until they can do without her. 



The snipe usually grows very fat, both in Europe and North America ; 

 but much less so in warm climates. Its flesh, after the early frosts, acquires 

 a fine and delicate flavour. It is cooked, as well as the woodcock, without 



