NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



525 



Towards tlic end of the Australian autiunn the Snipes — those, at 

 least, that have happily missed being shot or othei-wise killed — tiu'u their 

 long bills northward again, and the exodus from Australia is probably 

 complete hy March or April (Mr. Kcartland's latest record was a brace 

 and a half of birds, shot at Clayton, Victoria, on 12th March), when the 

 land of the eucalypts is deserted in favour of the upland marshes of the 

 snow-clad peak of Fujiyama, and other similar places in Japan. 



Snipe shooters, as well as natui-alists, will read with pleasiu-e the 

 interesting experiences and valuable infonnation as to the habits of this 

 bird was furnished by Mr. H. W. Wheelwright in his little book. " Bush 

 Wanderings." Mr. Wheelwright, who lived a Bohemian Ufe in the 

 gold era, fonncd a camp near Mordialloc, Victoria, the exact spot being 

 opposite the present railway station, between the road and the beach, and 

 shot for the market. In 1853 he mentions having sold his first Snipe 

 for five shillings. The most he ever " bagged " himself in one day was 

 thirteen and a half brace. As a specimen of a day's sport in those times, 

 the following is an extract from his game book, imder date 22nd 

 December, 1854, when he and his mate shot, on the island in the swamps 

 (now reclaimed), near Mordialloc : — " Tliirty-three Quails, seven Groimd 

 Thrushes, one Landrail, six Bronze-wing Pigeons, twenty-twO' Snipe, tlu'ee 

 Nankeen Herons, five Black Ducks, three Shoveller Ducks, three Coots, 

 two Bald Coots, two Black Cockatoos, one Crimson (Pennant) 

 Parrakeet, and seven Warbling Grass Parrakeets. " Total, five short of 

 a hundi-ed — not a bad day's sport, and a varied bag for two guns. 



But to proceed with Mr. 'Wheelwiight's habits of the Snipe, he says ; 

 " They appear in the districts round the coast in September, remain 

 thiougliQut tlie summer, and leave in February or the beginning of March. 

 They come down by stages, for we generally heard of the first Snipe being 

 killed up country a fortnight at least before they reached us. The first 

 place that they visited in our district was the Clyde, a low flat of wet 

 pasture land about fifteen miles below Dandenong, towards Western 

 Port Bay. This is the best and earliest Snipe gi-ouud that I know ; but 

 the water very soon goes off, and a man, to have any good shooting, should 

 be there when they fia-st come. Then they take another flight, and, 

 like the Snipe at home, following the flood, come into the Dandenong 

 country, and thence dispersei themselves over the swamps and low grouud.s, 

 frequenting, of course, pecuhar localities whei'e there is good feeding 

 ground, till they reach the coast, where all that are spared remain until 

 they leave ; and I could always make sure of one or two in the 

 honeysuckle or tea/-tree scrub along the beach when I could find them 

 nowhere else. The habits of the Australian Snipe are veiy puzzling, 

 and a man who is not used to Snipe-shooting here may beat acre after 

 acre of what we should consider, in the fen, capital Snipe gi-ound, withovit 

 springing a bird, and perhaps pa.ssing over the very places where the 

 Snipe lie. Fancy an old fen-man trying for Snipe among ferns and 

 heather on a dry sandy rise, or in thick honeysuckle sciiib, yet these are 

 the very places to look for the Australian Snipe ; in the summer and 

 in the heat of the day you will find them here in large wisps, and 

 nowhere else. In the early part of the season a man may, however, 

 beat for them in much the same places as he would at home; and ;is 



