572 GREAT SNIPE. 
and uncommon in Spain ; but in the Rhone valley and further east it 
seems to be equally frequent in spring and autumn, while distinctly 
more numerous on the vernal migration in Italy, Malta, the Ionian 
Islands and Albania. It occurs in Africa from Morocco to Egypt, 
and passes southward to Natal, where it arrives in September and 
October ; returning northward in April, in which month it has also 
been obtained in Damara-land on the west side. In Asia it has 
been found, up to lat. 71° N., across Siberia as far east as the Yenesei 
(where it exceeds the Common Snipe in numbers), and southward 
to the Tian-shan range, Turkestan, Persia &c., but it has not yet 
been recorded from India or China. 
The nest is a hollow, often among willow-bushes, or in some 
hillock above the level of a morass or forest-swamp ; the 4 eggs 
are greyish-buff with pale purplish underlying blotches and bold 
characteristic purplish-brown surface-markings: measurements 1°8 by 
1'25 in. Incubation begins at the end of May or early in June, 
and is said to last eighteen days, but it is probably longer, for the 
experiences of Mr. W. Evans show that nearly all the members of 
this group require three weeks. The young, which run as soon as 
hatched, are ready to fly by the middle of August. The food con- 
sists of the larvee of insects (especially of flies of the genus Z7pu/a), 
small slugs and worms, while, according te Prof. Collett, a few small 
stones are swallowed. In autumn, when the bird is often a perfect 
ball of fat, it weighs from 7 to 1o ozs. In this country many 
examples have been shot from grass-fields and clover, heather, potato- 
patches in a sandy soil, barley-layers, turnips, and drier situations 
than those frequented by the Common Snipe; while the late Lord 
Lilford remarked its predilection for currant-plantations in Corfu. 
Though often found in couples the Great Snipe is seldom, if ever, 
in ‘wisps’; its flight is steady and heavy, and the tail is expanded 
like a fan. A low, grating sound is produced by the bill in spring. 
The adult may be distinguished from the Common Snipe by its 
larger size, proportionately shorter legs and bill, more boldly barred 
under parts, and especially by the much greater amount of white in 
the tail-feathers, which are normally 16 (exceptionally 18 during the 
moult) and not 14 in number. Length 10'5 in., wing 5°5 in. The 
sexes are alike in plumage. In the young bird the tail-feathers are 
barred across both webs, but the ground-colour of the four outer 
pairs is nearly pure white and not mottled as it is in the Common 
Snipe ; while the markings on the breast and flanks are more arrow- 
shaped than those of the adult, and the general tint is more rufous. 
