LAKE, SWAMP, AND REED BED. 113 



springs in the marshy meadows close to the sea; 

 and in such spots several "cocks" will sometimes 

 rise almost simultaneously. The Woodcock nor- 

 mally is a solitary bird, frosts generally accounting 

 for its apparent gregarious tendencies. From the 

 above remarks it may be gathered that Devon also 

 ranks high as a Snipe county. The Common Snipe 

 we have with us in small numbers all the summer, 

 the bird breeding somewhat sparingly in all suitable 

 districts throughout the county. In autumn the 

 foreign contingent arrive, and these, during frosty 

 weather especially, resort in great numbers to the 

 marshy lands and wet meadows. The favourite 

 resorts are on the margins of bogs and in rough 

 unenclosed land where the ground is spongy and 

 studded with tufts of rushes and coarse grass. 

 These birds, and Woodcocks too, must move about 

 a good deal during the winter, for in some spots as 

 soon as one lot of birds is killed others promptly 

 occupy the vacant haunts. The Jack Snipe, of 

 course, is known as a winter visitor only. He is 

 nothing near so fastidious in the choice of a haunt 

 as the Common Snipe, and may often be flushed 

 from the ditches or a square yard or so of bog, to 



which, by the way, if left unmolested, he will return 



8 



