352 
SC0L0PACIDJ2. 
of birch-woods extend. In the Dovre Field at Jerkin, and 
Fogstuen, they are numerous on the edges of the grassy 
swamps, avoiding the wet; they also frequently resort 
to the borders of the small rills used for irrigating the 
grass-lands. Their nest is placed on a hummock or tuft 
of grass, near the willow bushes, on the borders of the 
swamps. Mr. Dann does not consider that the Great 
Snipe goes to the northward of Drontheim.” We cer¬ 
tainly saw but one of the genus, and that an example 
of the common species, in the whole district which we 
perambulated from Drontheim to within the Arctic circle. 
The eggs now figured are from the collection of the 
‘ Rev. IT. B. Tristram, who brought them from Norway; he 
considers the first figure of the plate, selected from four¬ 
teen specimens, as the most typical; fig. 2 is the largest 
of the series. Mr. Tristram says, “ I found the bird 
breeding in great numbers in marshy swamps near Bodoe 
in Nordland, in the early part of the summer of 1852 ; I 
shot several birds from the nest. The nests were mere in¬ 
dentations, sheltered among tufts of grass, always dry, and 
with a few dried pieces of grass and bent, scarcely deserv¬ 
ing the name of a built nest. They did not nest close to¬ 
gether, but so near that they might almost be said to live 
in communities. Each nest contained four eggs; we found 
them always by our dogs, for the birds sat very close, and 
allowed us to walk them up, while every other species of 
bird took alarm at the signals of the god wits and red¬ 
shanks which kept hovering over us. The old birds never 
flew far, and one always could obtain a third shot at the 
same individual/' 
