'The nest consists of a few blades of dead trans placed in a hollow under an overhanging 



cuuock of coarse grass." 



THE COMMON SNIPE 



T 



HIS well-known bird breeds 

 in almost every suitable 

 quarter of the British Is- 

 lands, and during the winter 

 months its ranks are greatly 

 swollen by the arrival of 

 vast numbers of migrants 

 from Scandinavia. Its 

 swift, zigzag flight renders it of peculiar 

 interest to the sportsman, and the weird 

 bleating, or drumming, made by the 

 male in the breeding season, to the 

 naturalist. Although the latter pecu- 

 liarity has been closely observed, and 

 widely discussed by able ornithologists 

 for more than a century, opinions still 

 differ as to how the sound is produced. 

 Some contend that it is of vocal origin, 

 and others that it is made by the tail 

 or wings. 



When a Snipe is going to indulge in 

 a drumming exercise, which is generally 

 during the cool hours of dusk although 

 individual birds occasionally do so in 

 the sunshine of broad noontide he rises 



into the air to some considerable height 

 uttering his familiar and far sounding 

 tjick, tjick, tjick notes. Upon reaching 

 a suitable altitude he descends in a 

 slanting direction with outspread wings 

 and tail, and it is then that the bleat- 

 ing or drumming sound is produced. 

 Numerous observations through powerful 

 field-glasses have convinced me that 

 the sound is not of vocal origin, for the 

 bill is always closed whilst the bird is 

 descending. The wings undoubtedly 

 have a great deal to do with the produc- 

 tion of the sound, but how far they are 

 assisted by the tail quills I am not pre- 

 pared to say. 



The Common Snipe will readily 

 perch on stone walls, gates, rails, and 

 sometimes even on the tops of tall trees. 

 Its bill is a wonderful organ, being 

 crowded with nerves right down to its 

 very tip. It is more sensitive to touch 

 than the human finger, and thus enables 

 its owner to find worms, and other edible 

 trifles, hidden in soft mud. 



43 



