8 



by one of the many boys who wandered about the marsh tending cattle ; but on our beginning 

 to express our fears, the bird, doubtless frightened by our voices, flew up, leaving a hole in the 

 moss, through which we could see there were still only two eggs as before. Not doubting, 

 however, that the bird would yet lay more, we again left it, and returned in a couple of days. 

 On approaching the spot, we observed the nest was again covered with moss. This time we 

 remained for a minute before the bird flew off; and on stooping down to examine it more closely, 

 we could distinctly see the bird's back through the moss. Not liking this close inspection, it flew 

 up, and we took the eggs, which proved to be only within a day or two of hatching. The bird 

 had evidently, after it was comfortably seated on the nest, torn up, with its long beak, the moss 

 within its reach, and drawn it over its back, till it was completely covered in the way described : 

 there was not the least appearance of any hole through which the bird could have crept into its 

 nest. This circumstance of the nest being covered is still more curious, as out of six we found, it 

 was the only one thus carefully concealed." 



I possess several clutches of the eggs of the present species from Boel, in Jutland, and from 

 the vicinity of Archangel, and do not find any very great variation either in coloration or size. 

 They are pale olive-grey or stone-buff with an olive tinge in colour, marked with pale purplish 

 grey underlying shell-blotches, and deep-brown surface-spots and blotches ; some are but sparingly 

 marked, whereas others are far more profusely blotched ; and in all the markings are far more 

 profuse at the larger end. In size they much exceed the eggs of the common Snipe, those in my 

 collection varying from If § by 1-^- to If ^ by 1%% inch. 



Mr. Collett informs me that a clutch of eggs taken in Valders on the 21st June, 1873, 

 measured — 44x31, 44x32, 43x32, and 44x31 J millims. respectively. In Norway eggs are 

 found from the end of May to the commencement of July, but most seem to be deposited about 

 the middle of June. Incubation lasts from about seventeen to eighteen days ; and the young, 

 when hatched, closely resemble those of the common Snipe, but have a shorter bill ; and directly 

 the tail commences to sprout, the white feathers on each side, so characteristic of this species, are 

 visible. Usually the young birds are full-grown by the 1st of August ; but occasionally some are 

 unable to fly before the end of that month. In the autumn this bird is very fat, so much so that 

 the thin skin on the breast, being tightly drawn on account of the increase in size of the bird, 

 will break as the bird, when shot, falls on the ground. 



The flight of the Double Snipe is swift, but differs from that of the common Snipe in being 

 more direct and lacking the sudden jerk sidewards ; and it is a much easier bird to shoot, as 1 

 well know from personal experience. Nor does it fly far when flushed, even when it has been 

 fired at and missed, but generally drops again within a couple of hundred paces of where it was 

 first found, if not nearer; and if driven away from a favourite locality, it soon returns to it again. 

 When in search of the present species with a dog, it is always best to walk in a zigzag upwind as 

 if tacking ; and should there be suitable ground on each side of a small river, it is advisable for 

 the party to divide and work each side, as, when flushed, the bird will frequently cross the water 

 at once. Very small shot may be used in shooting this bird ; for it is easily killed, and will drop 

 when only very slightly wounded, and seldom or never runs when winged, but remains where it 

 has fallen until retrieved, and a wounded bird is, as a rule, as good as bagged. 



Mr. Collett informs me that in every portion of Norway the Double Snipe is decreasing 



