Cuass Il. COMMON SNIPE. 
dried grass ; they lay four eggs of a dirty olive 
color, marked with dusky spots; their young 
are so often found in England, that we doubt 
whether they ever entirely leave this island. 
When they are disturbed much, particularly in 
the breeding season, they soar to a vast height, 
making a singular bleating noise, and when they 
descend, dart down with vast rapidity : it is also 
amusing to observe the cock (while his mate 
sits on her eggs) poise himself on his wings, 
making sometimes a whistling and sometimes a 
drumming noise. ‘Their food is the same with 
that of the woodcock ; their flight very irregular 
and swift, and attended with a very shrill 
scream. ‘They are most universal birds, found 
in every quarter of the globe, and in all cli- 
_mates. 
This species weighs* four ounces ; the length, 
to the end of the tail, is near twelve inches ; the 
breadth about fourteen. The bill is three inches 
long, of a dusky color, flat at the end; the 
head is divided lengthways with two black lines, 
and three of red, one of the last passing over 
the middle of the head, and one above each eye; 
between the bill and the eyes is a dusky line; 
* This is the usual weight, but a snipe was brought to the. 
editor in January, 1811, which weighed more than five ‘ounces. 
Ep. 
61 
DeEscrir- 
TION. 
