BRITISH BIRDS. 129 



chin and fore part of the neck are yellowish Avhite, 

 the former plain, the latter spotted with brown. 

 The scapulars are elegantly striped lengthwise on 

 one web, and barred on the other, with black and 

 yellow : quills dusky, the edge of the primaries, 

 and tips of the secondaries, white ; those next to 

 the back barred with black, and pale rufous : the 

 breast and belly are white: the tail coverts are 

 reddish brown, and so long as to cover the greater 

 part of it ; the tail consists of fourteen feathers, the 

 webs of which, as far as they are concealed by the 

 coverts, are dusky, thence downward, tawny or 

 rusty orange, and irregularly marked or crossed 

 with black. The tip is commonly of a pale reddish 

 yellow, but in some specimens nearly white: the 

 legs are pale green.* 



The common residence of the Snipe is in small 

 bogs or wet grounds, where it is almost constantly 

 digging and nibbling in the soft mud, in search of 

 its food, which consists chiefly of a very small red 

 transparent worm, about half an inch long; it is 

 said also to eat slugs, insects, and grubs, which 

 breed in great abundance in those slimy stagnant 

 places. In these retreats, when undisturbed, the 

 Snipe walks leisurely, with its head erect, and, at 

 short intervals, keeps moving the tail. But in this 

 state of tranquility it is very rarely to be seen, as it 

 is extremely watchful, and perceives the sportsman 



* 



* Mr. Tunstall mentions a "very curious pied Snipe, which was 

 shot in Botley Meadow, near Oxford, September 8, 1789, by a Mr. 

 Court : its throat, breast, back, and wings, were beautifully covered 

 or streaked with white, and on its forehead was a star of the natural 

 colour; it had also a ring round the neck and the tail, with the tips 

 of the wings of the same colour." 

 VOL. II. R 



