526 CLASS AVES. 



red ; and the white-winged, which, with the exception of the 

 wings, has the rest of the plumage like the common wood- 

 cock. 



The Snipes, though agreeing very much in external 

 resemblance with the woodcocks, differ from them in natural 

 habits. They do not inhabit woods, but remain in the 

 marshy parts of meadows, in the herbage, and amongst the 

 osiers which are on the banks of rivers. They are still more 

 generally spread than the woodcocks, and there are no por- 

 tions of the globe in which some of them have not been found. 

 They are observed to be incessantly employed in picking the 

 ground, and Aldrovandus has remarked that they have the 

 tongue terminating in a sharp point, proper for piercing the 

 small worms, which, probably, constitute their food ; for 

 though nothing is found in their stomachs but liquid, and an 

 earthy sediment, it must be that such soft bodies as worms, 

 &c. dissolve there very quickly, and that the earth which 

 enters along with them, is the only substance unsusceptible of 

 liquefaction. 



Autumn is the season for the arrival of the common snipe 

 in most of the southern and western countries of Europe. 

 It then extends through meadows, marshes, bogs, and along 

 the banks of streams and rivers. When it walks, it carries 

 the head erect, without either hopping or fluttering, and 

 gives it an horizontal movement, while the tail moves up and 

 down. When it takes flight, it rises so high as often to be 

 heard after it is lost sight of. Its cry has been sometimes 

 likened to that of the she-goat. 



The snipes, for the most part, migrating northwards, in 

 the spring, nestle in Germany, Switzerland, Silesia, &c. 

 Some, however, continue in their more southern stations, 

 makinff their nest in the month of Jvme, under the root of 

 some alder or willow, in a sheltered place. This nest is com- 

 posed of dry plants and feathers, and the female lays four or 



