268 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
longer than the Plover's, and rounder and bulkier 
in shape, though fairly sharply pointed at the little 
end ; in colour they are pale yellowish-brown, 
blotched and spotted with red-brown, and pale 
ash-grey. The old bird will occasionally pick 
up her young ones, and transport them to a place 
of safety, if the nesting-ground is disturbed ; her 
method of carrying them is apparently by clasping 
them between her legs, aided by her downbent bill. 
The Woodcock feeds by night, and the long bills 
of this and all the kindred species are instruments 
specially adapted to securing worms and numerous 
other forms of life by probing for them in the 
mud and ooze. 
COMMON SNIPE. 
{Gallinago coelestis.') 
Heather-bleater, Whole Snipe. — This is the only 
kind of Snipe which is frequently met with in most 
parts of the country, and the only one which nests 
here. Of the two other species of true Snipe which 
visit us in winter, the Great, Double, or Solitary 
Snipe {Gallinago major) is but rarely seen, and the 
Jack or Half Snipe {Gallinago gallinula) is scarcely 
frequent enough to call for a detailed description. 
A large number of the Common Snipe which are 
