i8o 
British Birds. 
The Solitary Tattler. 
THE COMMON 
SUMMER-SNIPE. 
(Tringcides 
hypoleucus.) 
See p. 179 . 
THE SOLITARY Distinguished 
TATTLER. from the fore- 
' going by having 
solitanus.) 
no white on the 
rump ; the white bars on the 
axillaries are much broader than 
in the Green Sandpiper. It is a 
North American species, and has 
occurred three times within the 
British area, once in Scotland, on 
the Clyde, once in the Scilly 
Islands and once in Cornwall. 
This little bird differs from the Tattlers in its short bill, short 
legs and more pointed wings, the long secondaries being nearly 
equal to the primaries in length. It nests on the moors of the 
south-west of England and in Wales, in the north of England 
and Scotland, and in every county in Ireland. In other parts 
of Great Britain it is a common migrant. It nests throughout 
Northern and Central Europe in suitable localities, as well as in Northern Asia, 
and winters in Africa, India and Australia. 
At the nesting-place the ‘Summer-Snipe’ is very demonstrative, and makes a 
great fuss when its domain is invaded. A pair is to be found in Norway at 
about every quarter of a mile, nesting on the green banks by the rivers or on 
the sides of the lakes, but the nest is always hard to discover. The species is never 
found in large flocks, though small family parties may be seen during the autumn 
migration, frequenting the pasture lands near the shores of the rivers, and often 
feeding round the cattle, when they keep up a bobbing motion of the tail like 
a Wagtail. The nest is a depression in the moss, and the eggs are four in 
number, pear-shaped, clay-colour or greenish-white, with spots and blotches of 
chocolate-brown and purplish-grey. 
The winter plumage of this 
species is almost identical with 
that of our Summer-Snipe, 
but it may be recognised by 
the black sub-terminal bar on 
all the secondaries, none of which are entirely 
white as in the preceding species, and also by 
the colour of the bill, which is yellow for some 
distance along the under mandible. It is a North 
American species, which is believed to have oc- 
curred in Great Biitain. In habits and nesting it The Spotted Summer-Snipe. 
THE SPOTTED 
SUMMER-SNIPE. 
( Tringoides 
macularius.) 
7 
