Great Snipe. 429 



It is often called the ' Solitary ' Snipe, as it was supposed, though 

 it seems erroneously, to shun the society of its fellows. It is also 

 called the 'Double' Snipe, from its size ; the ' Silent' Snipe, from 

 its uttering no cry as it rises on the wing ; and the ' Meadow ' 

 Snipe, from its habit of frequenting fields of long coarse grass, 

 whence it is also designated by the Germans Wiesen Schnepfe. 

 It is rarely seen in England but in the autumn : in summer I 

 have met with it in Norway, where it retires to breed on the 

 vast wild fjelds of that thinly populated country. The principal 

 points wherein it differs from the Common Snipe are its greater 

 size and heavier form ; its smaller and shorter beak ; its stouter 

 and shorter legs ; and the under-plumage invariably barred with 

 brown and white, which in the commoner species is pure white. 

 The eye, too, is placed very high in the head, and it flies more 

 like a Woodcock than a Snipe, more heavily and sluggishly, and 

 without those turns and twists for which the latter is notorious. 

 It also prefers drier situations than its congeners, the heather- 

 covered hillside or the rough grass of a sheltered bank being 

 favourite haunts. When on the wing, it spreads its tail like a 

 fan. In France it is Grande ou Double Bdcassine ; in Germany, 

 Mittelschneppe ; in Italy, Beccacino maggiore ; in Portugal, 

 Narseja grande; and in Sweden, Dubbel Beckasin. 



Like the Huffs and some other species described above, Great 

 Snipes have their leks, or playing grounds, wherein the males 

 strut and posture, droop their wings, spread their tails, swell out 

 their feathers, and do battle for the admiration and approbation 

 of the other sex. The English word ' Snipe ' is undoubtedly 

 derived from neb, the Anglo-Saxon for a 'bird's beak,' and 

 certainly that is the most noticeable feature in all the members 

 of this family. 



161. COMMON SNIPE (Scolopax gallinago). 



It is unquestionable that these birds, once so numerous here 



in winter, are gradually becoming perceptibly scarcer every year. 



This may be attributed to the general increase of draining, and 



the reclaiming of fens and marshes ; so that, like the Red Indian 



