WILSONS SNIPE. 127 



tinued hunting, but only getting three brace he returned 

 home, rejoicing over the capture of a live English 

 snipe. Arriving home, he took the bird out of his 

 pocket, and put it on the floor. It immediately com- 

 menced hopping around and feeling of everything 

 with its long bill, and seemingly took great pleasure in 

 standing in front of the fire on one leg, with its bill 

 under its wing. 



" It never showed any signs of fear, and might well 

 have been called a game bird. It would allow the 

 dogs to point it, and took great delight in being petted. 

 Holding a worm in your fingers, so that it could be 

 seen, the bird would come running up to get it, and 

 then, hopping away to a pan filled with water, would 

 there wash the worm and then swallow it. After tak- 

 ing a little drink it was all ready for another worm. 

 The bird washed itself every morning, but wanted 

 fresh, clean water every time, as it would never wash 

 in the same water twice. Its chief amusement was 

 boring, which it did in a large milkpan filled with mud, 

 grass, and worms. It would eat more than twice its 

 own weight of worms each day. Its owner watched 

 it for three hours, and in that time it consumed sev- 

 enty-one worms. The gentleman afterwards got sev- 

 enty worms, and found them to weigh five ounces, 

 while the snipe weighed but three ounces. It was 

 generally a very lively and wakeful bird, although at 

 times it would go to sleep in your hand. But with 

 all the eating the bird did, it kept continually getting 

 thinner and thinner, and after nearly two months' cap- 

 tivity it died. It evidently must have died of starva- 



