BIRDS AND ALL NATURE 



Illustrated by COLOR PHOTOGRf\PfiY. 



Vol. IV. 



JULY, 1898. 



No. I. 



WILSON^S SNIPE. 



ILSON'S SNIPE, other- 

 wise known as the 

 English Snipe, Jacksnipe, 

 and Guttersnipe, and 

 which is one of our best known game 

 birds, has a very extended range ; 

 indeed, covering the whole of North 

 America, and migrating south in the 

 winter to the West Indies and northern 

 South America. Its long, compressed, 

 flattened, and slightly expanded bill 

 gives it an odd appearance, and renders 

 it easily recognizable. From March 

 till September the peculiar and cheer- 

 ful " cheep " of the Snipe may be heard 

 in the larger city parks where there 

 are small lakes and open m.oist grounds, 

 and where it can feed and probe with 

 its long, soft, sensitive, pointed bill in 

 the thin mud and soft earth for worms, 

 larvae, and the tender roots of plants. 

 In some localities in the Southern 

 states, during the winter months, 

 thousands of Snipe are killed on the 

 marshes where they collect on some 

 especially good feeding ground. We 

 have rarely seen more than two 

 together, as they are not social, mov- 

 ing about either alone or in pairs. Its 

 movements on the ground are graceful 

 and easy, and, while feeding, the tail 

 is carried partly erect, the head down- 

 ward, the bill barely clearing the 

 ground. We recently watched one 

 through an opera glass, but the fre- 

 quency of its changes from point to 

 point and the rapidity of its flight dis- 

 couraged long observation. The 



flight is swift, and, at the start, in a 

 zigzag manner. Sportsmen say it is a 

 most difficult bird to shoot, requiring 

 a quick eye and a snap shot to bag 

 four out of five. Col. Goss said that 

 he always had the best success when 

 the birds were suddenly flushed, in 

 shooting the instant its startled "i-f^z/r" 

 reached his ear, " as it is invariably 

 heard the moment the bird is fairly in 

 the air." 



It is entertaining to watch the 

 courtship of these birds, " as the male 

 struts with drooping wings and wide 

 spread tail around his mate in the 

 most captivating manner, often at sucli 

 times rising spiral-like with quickly 

 beating wings high in the air, drop- 

 ping back in a wavy, graceful circle, 

 uttering at the same time his jar- 

 ring, cackling love note, which, with 

 the vibration of the wings upon the 

 air, makes a rather pleasing sound. 



The snipe's nest is usually placed 

 on or under a tuft of grass, and is a 

 mere depression, scantily lined with 

 bits of old grass and leaves. The 

 eggs are three or four, greyish olive, 

 with more or less of a brownish shade, 

 spotted and blotched chiefly about the 

 larger end with varying shades of 

 umber brown. 



If you want to identify Wilson's 

 Snipe, have with you a copy of this 

 number of Birds and all Nature as 

 you stroll along shore or beach. Our 

 picture is his very image. 



