CHAPTER VIII. 



THE SNIPE AND SNIPE-SHOOTING. 



THIS well-known and excellent little bird of 

 passage is to be found all over the country, in 

 suitable ground, at the times of the spring and 

 fall migrations. It winters about the wet rice- 

 fields of the Southern States, and comes north in 

 the spring, going to its breeding-grounds, which are 

 mainly in higher latitudes than the United States. 

 It is true that a few remain all summer in the 

 Eastern States, and also in those to the westward, 

 and rear broods of young; but by far the larger 

 number continue towards the north, pausing about 

 a month in the middle latitudes. It does not 

 breed south of Virginia. In Kentucky, Indiana, 

 and Michigan some snipe are bred in the sedges 

 of the wet prairies and about the edges of the 

 wild rice-swamps. In Illinois a few nests are 

 made about the Calumet, and some in the great 

 Winnebago Swamp, which is part pool, and 

 a great deal of high grass marsh. About Co- 

 lumbus, Kentucky, the first flights of spring snipe 

 133 



