Habits and Habitat of Snipe. 185 



The lot of all birds which seek their 

 sustenance by boring is a hard one in an 

 ''old-fashioned winter," though many make 

 shift to eke out a living by other methods. 

 But the snipe, even when face to face with 

 starvation, seems unable to adapt himself to 

 the cruel conditions he has flown so far to 

 avoid. No wonder, then, that he has as 

 holy a horror as a fox -hunter of hard 

 ground. To the man fuming over his 

 half- dozen fattening hunters it means only 

 cessation of sport, but to the sporting little 

 bird the horrible prospect of absolute stop- 

 page of supplies. So that the vast majority 

 of our snipe take very good care to be off 

 before the door of their larder is locked 

 upon them, performing a second and most 

 unwilling migration southward to more 

 genial climes. Some indeed linger until 

 the strength necessary for a long flight has 

 left them, no doubt hoping against hope 

 for the appearance of the welcome thaw. 

 In a frost of any duration these unfor- 

 tunates perish in hundreds. A letter from 



