THE SNIPE 123 



six yards away. The first time this happened I 

 thought the bird must be wounded or unable to fly, 

 but it was not, and it is only one more proof of the 

 benefit that the Antiquities Department has pro- 

 duced by exercising its authority over the areas it 

 controls. No shooting is allowed on " Antiquities 

 ground," and birds very soon get to know this, 

 gain confidence, and lose all their natural shyness. 

 Needless to say, in those parts where they are shot 

 they behave as warily as Snipe do at home, and are 

 up and away with their curious "scarpe, scarpe" 

 cry. Years ago the Delta was one of the best 

 snipe-grounds in the world, and an old sportsman 

 in Cairo told me of his getting 93 couples in a day, 

 and as late as 1902 a certain five days' shooting 

 gave an average of 72 couple per day. In nearly 

 all such bags some Jack Snipe were obtained ; and 

 in Mr. M. J. Nicoll's notes on birds met with at 

 Menzaleh the Jack Snipe is given as the commoner 

 of the two species. 



There is nothing to show that Snipe ever breed 

 in Egypt, though there are many localities where 

 it well might, and it is another of the great army 

 of winter migrant visitors that go to the north as 

 spring comes on. It lives entirely on insects and 

 worms, which it procures by probing the soft, black 



