Habits and Habitat of Snipe. 179 



to throw him out altogether, and, to my 

 astonishment, after an undecided sort of 

 flutter, he pitched Hke a very Jack a few 

 yards farther on, only to fall in a moment 

 to my sixth barrel. All these birds were in 

 splendid condition, and were feeding, as a 

 long red worm protruding from the bill of 

 one of them, the last but one, proved. The 

 same thing in a less marked manner has often 

 happened to me before. 



In a frost a greater portion of the day's 

 walk described in an earlier chapter would 

 be so much waste of time. It will then 

 be useless to seek sport on the wet levels ; 

 they will be frozen as hard as iron, and as 

 impervious to the delicate bills of the birds. 

 Even a temporary thaw would not make 

 matters much better, for it would have to 

 be of some duration to bring the worms, 

 which have retired to the depths again, to 

 the surface. The spots to make for now 

 are the sides of unfrozen streams, and, above 

 all, the small places which springs keep moist 

 and warm throughout the severest weather. 



