2-14 allen’s naturalist’s library. 
the same remarkable performance in Siberia, where they were 
very common in the valley of the Koorayika, and soon after 
their arrival I used sometimes to watch them in the evening 
through my binocular. With a little caution I found it very 
easy to get near them, and frequently, as 1 sat partially con- 
cealed between a couple of willow-bushes, I was able to turn 
my glass on two or three pairs of these birds all within fifteen 
or twenty yards of me. They had one very curious habit 
which I noted ; tlicy used to stretch out their necks, throw back 
the head almost upside down, and open and shut their beaks 
rapidly, uttering a curious noise like that produced by running 
the finger along the edge of a comb. This was sometimes 
preceded by a short flight, or by spreading of the wings and 
tail. I have never heard the Great Snipe utter any other call 
or alarm-note. During the breeding-season it is not at all shy, 
and allows of a near approach ; and when nesting, it almost 
permits itself to be trodden upon before rising, which it does 
with a whir of the wings like that of a Grouse, but not so loud. 
It is a much easier bird to shoot than the Common Snipe, fly- 
ing much slower and straighten On the ground it is a very 
comical-looking object ; plump, short-legged, it shuffles about, 
half walking, half running, its bill always depressed, and, how- 
ever intent it may be on feeding, it is ever on the watch for 
danger, and always tries to keep behind a bunch of rushes or 
a clump of sedge. It hides in the long coarse grass on the 
banks of rivers and lakes during the day, and comes out m 
the open in the evening, if there be any evening where it 
happens to live, to feed on worms and various small insects. 
The Great Snipe is a bird of the swamps, but prefers such as 
have open places of mud or peat, or even sand.” 
Uest. — According to Mr. Seebohm, the nest is sometimes 
placed in long grass, but more often in the middle of a hillock 
of sage or rushes. A small quantity of moss or dead grass is 
added as a lining to the depression. 
Egj 3 . — Four in number, pear-shaped. The ground colour is 
stone-grey or clay-brown, boldly marked with black, over which 
is spread a reddish lustre ; these black markings clustering 
chiefly round the large end of the egg, where they form large 
blotches. The underlying markings are faint purplish-grey. 
