Shore -bird Shooting 351 



species becomes more abundant, numbers stop- 

 ping on the marshes of Virginia and North 

 Carolina that have passed the more northern feed- 

 ing-grounds. The red-breasted snipe visits the 

 West Indies and northern South America, where 

 it winters. In the spring many return along the 

 Atlantic Coast, but a large body probably fol- 

 low the more direct route through the interior. 

 Early in May I have seen them near the Chesa- 

 peake in large flocks, often of several hundred 

 individuals. The note of this bird is a plaintive 

 whistle, not unlike the yellowleg's, but quick and 

 sharp, and it will generally readily respond. The 

 far Arctic regions, from the mountains eastward, 

 are the breeding-ground, and June is the time for 

 incubation. Nests found by MacFarlane at Fort 

 Anderson were situated on the borders of small 

 lagoons. The eggs were deposited on decayed 

 leaves, placed in slight depressions on the mossy 

 ground. In the breeding season the note of this 

 bird is modified and is said to resemble the song 

 of a land-bird, both male and female going through 

 queerevolutions of flight. The young are fledged in 

 July and left by the old birds to find their way south 

 and encounter the dangers that beset the course, 

 unaided. The first flocks of young red-breasted 

 snipe arrive off Cape Cod and Long Island early 

 in September. They are even more readily killed 

 than the adults, and but small proportions escape 



