Limicolce 203 



before it will stir. The Common Snipe ranges over 

 northern and temperate Europe and Asia, except the 

 far north and the warmer parts of the south, and 

 even reaches north-west Africa ; in winter himdreds of 

 immigrants are added to our breeding stock, arriving 

 late in October and leaving us in March. From April 

 onwards those that remain bmld a small nest of grass 

 among the herbage in swampy places on our moors, 

 fens, and marsh-lands, laying four oUve-green or yellow- 

 brown eggs with obHque blotches of grey and brown. 

 These are wonderfully large for a bird of the size. It 

 is at this season that most Snipe "drum," that is, 

 produce a curious noise in descending from aloft, which 

 is caused chiefly or entirely by the vibration of the 

 outer tail-feather. The present writer has, however, 

 constantly had Snipe drumming round him when 

 shooting in winter. The colour of the upper parts is 

 brown with buff streaks and blacker spots ; the under 

 parts are white, becoming brown with darker markings 

 on the fore-neck and flanks. 



The Great Snipe (O. media) is a larger and more 

 boldly marked bird, which is often confounded with 

 the last species, but can always be distinguished by 

 having sixteen instead of fourteen tail-feathers. The 

 SoUtary Snipe, as it is sometimes called, is a regular 

 but uncommon visitor to Britain in autumn or even 

 in spring ; its home is Scandinavia, Denmark, and 

 Holland, northern Germany and Russia, with temperate 

 Asia as far west as the Altai Mountains. It is rarely 

 seen in flocks. 



The Jack Snipe (Limnocryptes gallinula), with only 

 twelve tail-feathers, is a much smaller bird, which has 

 erroneously been stated to breed in Britain ; its 



