The Observer’s Book of BRITISH BIRDS’ EGGS Fully Described and Illustrated in Natural Colours

A List of The Observer’s Books — The observer’s Book of BRITISH BIRDS The Observer’s Book of BRITISH BUTTERFLIES The Observer’s Book of TREES AND SHRUBS OF THE BRITISH ISLES The Observer’s Book of BRITISH WILD ANIMALS The Observer’s Book of FRESHWATER FISHES OF THE BRITISH ISLES The Observer’s Book of BRITISH GRASSES, SEDGES AND RUSHES The Observer’s Book of DOGS The Observer’s Book of HORSES AND PONIES The Observer’s Book of BRITISH GEOLOGY The Observer’s Book of AIRCRAFT The Observer’s Book of BRITISH FERNS The Observer’s Book of BRITISH ARCHITECTURE The Observer’s Book of THE LARGER BRITISH MOTHS The Observer’s Book of SHIPS The Observer’s Book of MUSIC The Observer’s Book of COMMON BRITISH INSECTS AND SPIDERS The Observer’s Book of BRITISH BIRDS EGGS

SCOLOPACIDAE Woodcock Common Snipe moorlands, and consequently their numbers as breeding birds are somewhat restricted in southern England. Moors, marshes, and damp grounds generally provide nesting sites where the birds select a hollow in the ground and line with grass. It is always well hidden by surrounding clumps of heather, bracken, reeds, or long grass and this, together with the barred and broken pattern of the plumage of teh sitting bird, makes a nest almost impossible to detect, even at very clsoe quarters. The clutch contains four pointed eggs laid in a circle like those of the woodcock: one or two clutches are produced from March onwards. teh ground colour of the eggs is a palish olive, and the specks, spots and smudges are grey and dark brown. these markings often form a spiral pattern. 154