CH. IV. snipe's eggs. 63 



bird, and that the action of the hen snipe when dis- 

 turbed from her nest being unlike her usual flight, 

 made him believe her to be the jack snipe instead 

 of the common one. The eggs were certainly 

 small for a snipe, but not smaller than I have some- 

 times seen them. I have never read any account 

 of the jack snipe breeding in Scotland that I con- 

 sidered well authenticated. There is every pro- 

 bability that a few birds, unequal to the long flight 

 of their migration, may remain in this country 

 during the summer. But notwithstanding the 

 eager search made for the nest by egg collectors, it 

 has never yet been found in Scotland. I heard 

 that the jack snipe had been seen breeding near 

 Tongue, but the gamekeeper there says that this 

 is not the case, and that probably the dunlin was 

 mistaken for that bird. 



