THE COMMON SNIPE. 



Scolopax yalllnago. 



HIS well-known bird, so dear to the 

 sportsman, and so highly appreciated 

 by the epicure and the invalid, be- 

 longs to the Grallatorial, or Wading 

 birds, and is found pretty generally 

 throughout Great Britain. 



It has a preference for marshy and 

 fenny districts, and breeds in the 

 northern and southern counties of 

 England, Ireland, Scotland and its 

 islands. So large a number of 

 Snipes are, however, seen in this 

 country every winter, that it is quite 

 clear they cannot be bred here, and 

 probably visit us from Scandinavia, 

 to remain with us during the winter 

 months. 



The Snipe is fond of wet meadows, 

 brooks, ditches, and boggy or marshy 

 places, where it finds profitable occu- 

 pation in piercing the soft soil with 

 its long and sensitive bill in pursuit 

 of food. During very cold weather 

 the Snipe is gregarious, but does not 

 long remain in one spot; it frequently 

 shifts its feeding-places, so that a 



