194 
PRiECOCIAL G-RALLATORES — LIMICOLiE. 
move from place to place ; so that it is quite common for the sportsman to find them 
abundant one day, and that the same place is entirely deserted the next. 
Their summer or nuptial plumage is put on about the last of March or the first of 
April, and the male begins his calls of invitation to his mate. These are always 
uttered when the bird is on the wing, and are said by Yarrell to consist of piping or 
clicking notes, often repeated, and accompanied at intervals by a humming or bleat- 
ing noise. This latter sound is supposed to be produced by a peculiar action of the 
wings, and is said to be not unlike the cry of a goat, for which reason this bird is 
known in France by the name of chevre volant. Whenever this sound is heard, the 
bird is observed always to descend with great velocity and with a tremulous motion 
of the wings. At this season it is also said to soar to an immense height, remaining 
long upon the wing, its notes being frequently heard when the bird itself is out of 
sight. These flights are performed at intervals throughout the day, but are more 
common toward the evening, and are continued as long as the female is engaged in 
incubation. Sir Humphry Davy states that the old birds are greatly attached to 
their offspring, and that if any one approaches the nest, they make a loud and drum- 
ming noise over the head of the intruder, as if to divert his attention. 
The feeding-ground of this Snipe is in the vicinity of springs and in freshwater 
meadows. It feeds by thrusting its bill into the thin mud or soft earth up to the 
base, and drawing it back with great quickness. Yarrell states that the end of the 
bill of a Snipe, when the bird is living, is smooth, soft, and pulpy, indicating great 
sensibility. When dry it becomes dimpled like the end of a thimble. If the upper 
mandible be macerated and the cuticle taken off, the bone laid bare will be found 
presenting on its external surface numerous elongated hexagonal cells, which furnish 
space for the expansion, and at the same time protection for minute portions of nerves 
supplied to them from the fifth pair. In consequence of this provision, the end of 
the bill becomes a delicate organ of touch, enabling the bird to perceive the pres- 
ence of its food, even when this lies so deep in the ground as to be entirely out of 
sight. The food of this Snipe consists of worms, insects, small shells with their 
inhabitants, etc. Minute seeds are sometimes found in its stomach ; but these are 
supposed to be swallowed accidentally, and when adhering to the glutinous surface 
of its usual food. A Snipe kept in confinement by Mr. Blytli would eat nothing 
but earth-worms. 
The nests of this Snipe are placed on the ground, and are very inartificial. They 
are usually among the long grass, by the side of small ponds, or amidst the long 
heather which grows upon the sides of the hills. Mr. Hewitson met with several of 
its nests on the Shetland Islands, in the dry heath on the side of a steep hill, at 
an elevation of a thousand feet above the marshy plain. The nest is always very 
slight, consisting only of a few bits of dry grass or herbage collected in a depression 
on the ground, and sometimes upon or under the side of a tuft of grass or bunch of 
rushes. 
The eggs are said to be four in number — occasionally less — having a pale yellow- 
ish-wliite ground, and being marked with elongated blotches of several shades of 
reddish and yellowish brown ; these markings are chiefly about the more obtuse end. 
The eggs are pyriform in shape, and quite pointed at one end. They measure 1.50 
inches in length by 1.08 in breadth. 
The young birds are carefully tended, and grow with great rapidity ; and before 
they can fly are larger than their parents. 
