124 EGYPTIAN BIRDS 
mud with its long, sensitive bill. I have seen Snipe 
in most unlikely places, and once saw one fly right 
through an open space at the Ramaseum Temple. 
From my notes of a night’s watching at a pool I 
borrow the following : “14th January, 7.30 P.M.— 
Snipe are squawking, and can hear them coming in 
on all sides throughout night, which is a dark one; 
could hear only faint rippling noise at intervals, as 
some duck or wader moved about, and the earliest 
call was at 3 a.m., when a Snipe squawked once 
or twice, then silence again, and only a faint, 
far-away dog’s bark, and a cricket in the sand- 
bank near my side began churring. At 5 a.m. 
great splashing at end of pool, and coot began 
moving. No light showed till after 6, and then 
one could see duck feeding and moving off, and 
again little wisps of Snipe went over my head 
and away.” 
