BIRDS. 305 
THE SNIPE. (Scolopax gallinago.) 
The Snipe flies screaming from the marshy verge, 
And towers in airy circles o'er the wood. 
Still heard at intervals ; and oft returns, 
And" stoops as bent to alight ; then wheels aloft 
With sudden fear, and screams and stoops again, 
Her favourite glade reluctant to forsake. GISBORNE. 
THE Snipe weighs about four ounces. A pale red line 
divides the head in the middle longways ; the chin under 
the bill is white ; the neck is a mixture of brown and 
red ; the lower part of the body is almost all white. The 
back and wings are of a dusky colour. The flesh is ten- 
der, sweet, and of a very agreeable flavour, next to that 
of a woodcock. Snipes feed especially upon small red 
worms, and upon insects, which they find in muddy and 
swampy places, on the shores of rivulets and brooks, and 
on the clayish margin of ponds. It is said that some 
Snipes remain with us all the summer, and build in moors 
and marshes, laying four or five eggs. The others are 
migratory. When forced by severe frosts to sheltered 
springs, they are often seen in large flights. Mr. Daniel 
states, that, about thirty years ago, Snipes were so abun- 
dant in the fens of Cambridgeshire, that as many were 
taken in Milton fen, by means of a lark-net, in one 
