﻿398 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  observations 
  where 
  least 
  expected. 
  Thus 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  most 
  

   animals 
  seek 
  to 
  escape 
  danger 
  by 
  concealment, 
  and 
  endeavour 
  to 
  

   reach 
  an 
  environment 
  which 
  provides 
  some 
  amount 
  of 
  assimila- 
  

   tive 
  coloration. 
  According 
  to 
  " 
  Scolopax," 
  this 
  may 
  be 
  the 
  last 
  

   living 
  effort 
  of 
  the 
  Snipe. 
  " 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  is 
  pretty 
  certain 
  that 
  a 
  

   Snipe 
  not 
  killed 
  outright, 
  yet 
  in 
  extremis, 
  always 
  looks 
  out 
  for 
  a 
  

   secure 
  hiding-place 
  in 
  which 
  to 
  drop, 
  even 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  die 
  

   before 
  reaching 
  the 
  ground, 
  a 
  fact 
  that 
  may 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  

   wonderful 
  concealment 
  of 
  many 
  dead 
  birds. 
  I 
  can 
  only 
  say 
  that 
  

   I 
  have 
  witnessed 
  birds 
  falling 
  with 
  a 
  bump, 
  perfectly 
  dead, 
  into 
  

   the 
  only 
  patch 
  of 
  cover 
  available 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  distance, 
  too 
  often 
  

   for 
  the 
  circumstance 
  to 
  be 
  merely 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  chance." 
  

  

  The 
  author 
  remarks 
  that 
  he 
  is 
  positive, 
  without 
  being 
  able 
  

   to 
  prove 
  it, 
  that 
  he 
  saw 
  a 
  Snipe 
  fly 
  across 
  the 
  crowded 
  road 
  

   which 
  leads 
  from 
  Hammersmith 
  Bridge 
  to 
  Barnes 
  Common 
  in 
  

   January 
  of 
  this 
  year. 
  We 
  have 
  had 
  recent 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  

   nesting 
  in 
  Bomney 
  Marsh 
  (Zool. 
  1897, 
  p. 
  271), 
  and 
  on 
  Epsom 
  

   Common 
  (Zool. 
  1899, 
  p. 
  225), 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  as 
  an 
  

   uncommon 
  winter 
  visitor 
  to 
  the 
  metropolis 
  itself 
  ; 
  but, 
  as 
  

   " 
  Scolopax 
  " 
  remarks, 
  " 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  unlikely 
  that 
  the 
  glare 
  of 
  a 
  

   city 
  seen 
  from 
  the 
  heights 
  above 
  by 
  the 
  travelling 
  birds 
  may 
  

   actually 
  attract 
  them 
  to 
  a 
  nearer 
  inspection." 
  

  

  