576 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XX. 



It is found in much the same sort of country and ground as 

 Qallinago coelestis but is perhaps rather inclined to lie up in 

 thicker cover than does the latter bird. In their diet coelestis and 

 major resemble one another very closely, and an examination of the 

 bills of these two birds will show that this is what we should expect 

 as in structure and sensitiveness they are much the same. 



Dresser says that their food consists of worms, small slugs, 



insects and larvse. 



The flight of the Great Snipe is very inferior to that of the 

 Fantail or Pintail Snipe and more nearly approaches that of the 

 Wood Snipe, though it does not appear to indulge in the curious 

 side movements and sudden final plunge into cover so characteristic 

 of that bird, still it is comparatively slow and heavy on the wing 

 and offers an easy shot. 



I can find no record of any day's shooting devoted entirely to 

 this snipe, and when shot they seem invariably to form merely a 

 part of the bag on days when the Common Snipe has been the 

 object of pursuit. 



Its breeding season varies according to latitude, in the most 

 Southern portion of its breeding range its eggs may be taken as 

 early as the last week in April, and throughout May into early 

 June, but in the more Northern latitudes it will not be found to 

 lay until at least a month later and few, if any, eggs will be taken 

 before June. 



It is very doubtful if the Great Snipe "drums" in the true 

 sense of the word. Dr. Bahr, as a result of his experiments with 

 the tail of this snipe, writes "the feathers produce no sound," a 

 result which he obtained only from experiments with the tail- 

 feathers of the Great Snipe and the Jack Snipe. 



They do however produce a sound during the breeding season, 

 which has not yet been explained and may therefore be either 

 vocal or mechanical. 



Professor Oollett in Dresser's Birds of Europe (Vol. vii, p. 635) 

 thus describes its breeding habits : "It has a so-called Leg or Spel 

 like some of the Grouse tribe, a sort of meeting place where they 

 collect to drum and often to engage in combat for the possession of 

 the females. ... It does not indulge in aerial evolutions but 



