256 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



carry as many as in July. These winter birds, however, 

 are not, so far as it is possible to judge, the birds which 

 were bred there. They, in all probability, are hundreds 

 of miles away, and the present occupants are migrants 

 from the north, probably from Scandinavia. They 

 remain in the locality till about the beginning of February, 

 then another gap may be noticed. In March the birds 

 reappear ; these are the breeding birds, and they remain 

 till the young are able to accompany them on the leisurely 

 southward migration. 



Snipe are curiously affected by the weather, and 

 generally speaking high winds and rain are detrimental 

 to snipe shooting. Heavy gales from the south-west 

 have the effect of making the birds so wild that it is 

 impossible to get near them. Then if the wind suddenly 

 veers, with driving mist-like rains, the snipe immediately 

 gather into small packs, which rise ninety yards or so 

 from the gunner instead of sitting close. Immediately 

 one pack has risen, other packs rise from various parts 

 of the swamp, and all set off in the direction of some other 

 feeding ground. 



It has often been said that the snipe found in small 

 packs are migrants fresh from overseas, but during my 

 studies of the bird in Norfolk, I have definitely concluded 

 that their packing is merely a matter of weather, and that 

 the birds which rise singly one day may rise in batches 

 of half a dozen the next. 



Normally the snipe sleeps during the day, and feeds 

 during the night. Hard frost brings great suffering to 

 them. They are then to be found in all manner of 

 out-of-the-way places, such as the heads of small streams, 

 and about the drainage systems of towns and villages. 

 Indeed I have known them to take up their habitat in 

 most uncongenial quarters on the immediate outskirts 

 of great cities. The snipe depends upon his long soft 



