372 
cautiously up I noted that it would soon be 
clear, and I decided to wait. The snipe in 
the meantime was gathering the eggs and 
young bird under her, and gradually settling 
down, until at last she remaimed quite still. 
The sun now glimmered out through the thin 
edges of the cloud: a good sudden squeeze 
of the rubber ball and—up went the snipe; 
but I heard the fall of the shutter before 
she rose, so I knew it was all right. 
I made four other exposures, but the 
first was the only 
good negative; all 
the rest were under- 
exposed, owing to the 
dull light and the 
shaded position of 
the nest. After the 
first exposure had 
been made, and all 
was ready for another 
try, I heard the snipe 
alight, but did not 
see her. I could 
hear her “talking” 
for some little time, 
and then all was 
silent. I waited 
nearly an hour, when, 
thinking something 
must have alarmed 
her, I crept out of my 
hiding-place to investigate, when I had the 
disappointment of seeing her rise from the 
nest, where she had been quietly sitting all 
the time. Another attempt was attended 
with a similar result It was evident she 
had found a means of getting on to the 
nest which was beyond my limited range of 
view. Not to be beaten, I cut a narrow 
passage through the grass from the nest to 
my hiding-place, which latter I raised so 
“Looked remarkably fit.” 
Animal Life 
that I could kneel instead of having to lie 
down. I could now see the nest distinctly, 
and kept my eyes fixed on it, only glancing 
up when I heard the snipe alighting, which 
she did on the other side of a clump of 
bushes; after a few minutes’ watching, a 
sheht movement was noticeable in the grass 
at the back of the nest, then the long 
bill came through, followed slowly by the 
bird in a crouching position. This time 
the fall of the shutter did not disturb 
her in the least, 
and, creeping from 
my hiding-place, 
I made a wide 
détour on hands and 
knees through the 
grass to~ behind the 
camera, and looked 
over it at the snipe 
only four feet away ; 
she seemed surprised, 
and kicked the young 
bird over on its back 
as she went. 
At about twelve 
o'clock it began to 
rain; two eggs were 
now hatched, and 
the remaining one 
was chipping. The 
two young birds 
looked remarkably fit considering the number 
of times they had been uncovered during 
the morning. Under the unfavourable con- 
ditions I made as good a study of them as 
I could expect. Placing some clumps of 
erass round the nest, and restoring the 
surroundings to their natural state, I wished 
my old snipe ‘good luck,’ and, gathering 
up my belongings, left her to finish her 
hatching in peace. 
[An article by the same Author on “Bird Life of the Breck District,” illustrated with many photographs 
from nature, will appear in an early number of AnrmaL Lire.] 
