The Snipe. 
365 
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. 
Thk Snipe weighs about four ounces. A pale red line 
divides the head 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 tender, 
sweet, and in flavour ranks next to that of the woodcock. 
Snipes feed especially upon small red worms, and 
insects, which they find in muddy and swampy places, 
on the banks of rivulets and brooks, and on the clayey 
margin of ponds. It is said that Snipes remain with us 
all the summer, and build in moors and marshes, laying 
four or five eggs ; but most of them are migratory, and, 
when forced by severe frosts to sheltered springs, are 
often seen in large flights. Mr. Daniel states that, 
about thirty years ago, Snipes were so abundant in the 
fens of Cambridgeshire, that as many were taken in 
Milton fen, by means of a lark-net, in one night, and by 
a single man, as could be contained in a small hamper. 
