In colour they are pale olive very thickly spotted and streaked with black. The male undertakes all the duties connected with the young, the female taking no notice of the nest after the laying of the last egg. Frequently the female at the beginning of the breeding season is accompanied by more than one male, so that it is probable that polyandry exists in this group, as it has already been proved to do in other cases where the courting is undertaken by the female. The call-note is a low “wit, wit, wit.” In summer the head, neck, and shoulders are lead grey, the back and wings darker, with a mixture of pale rufous. A bar across the wings white. Sides and front of the neck chestnut; breast lead grey; chin and rest of under parts white. The male is rather duller than the female. In winter the forehead crown, and under parts are white, feathers of the back grey, with white margins. The young have rufous margins to the feathers of the back, but otherwise resemble their parents in winter dress. Length 7·5 in.; wing 4·4 in. THE WOODCOCK Scolopax rusticula, Linnæus The Woodcock is best known in these islands from the vast numbers that annually arrive during October to pass the winter with us. Although fairly well distributed at this time of year, they are most abundant in Ireland and our western counties, where they form one of the chief objectives of the shooter. As its name indicates, the Woodcock spends most of its time in woods and plantations, flying every evening to wet meadows and marshes in the neighbourhood, where it feeds on worms and other insects, and returning to the woods before daybreak. On its passage to and from its feeding ground it always follows certain tracks, which are in consequence often known as “cock-roads.” Early in March the vast majority take their departure for their breeding grounds in Northern Europe, but some remain to nest with us, and of late years its numbers as a breeding species have considerably increased. The nest is a slight depression among dead leaves, generally at the foot of a tree. The eggs are four in number and yellowish white in colour, blotched with ash grey and reddish brown. When the young are hatched they are sometimes removed by the parents, the female being said to carry them by holding them pressed closely to her body between her legs. In common with all Snipe, the eye is placed far back on the head, and it has recently been shown that the external aperture of the ear is placed forwards in front of and below the eye. The sexes are alike in colour and are reddish brown on the back, vermiculated with dark brown. The under parts are drab, barred with a darker shade. There is much individual variation in tint. Length 14·29 in.; wing 7·5 in. The young resemble their parents, but are rather more barred on the back. THE GREAT OR SOLITARY SNIPE Gallinago major (J. F. Gmelin)