SNIPE-SHOOTING IN INDIA 399 



their bills are tender, and not adapted for piercing 

 any but the softest soils in their search for food, 

 which consists of worms, insects, small snails, etc. 

 In wet weather they may frequently be found in 

 the turnip-fields and on the higher grounds, the 

 supply of food being there plentiful and easily 

 procured. The slightest frost, by hardening the 

 soil, will suffice to send them down into the valleys 

 to seek for food in the ditches and watercourses. 



It is not, I imagine, generally known that 

 snipe are addicted to perching. Such, how- 

 ever, appears to be the case. Saunders, in his 

 ' Manual of British Birds,' thus refers to this 

 habit : ' Occasionally it perches on trees, etc., 

 though the fact has been dogmatically disputed 

 by persons of limited experience.' 



Snipe-shooting in the tropics, India especially, 

 is proverbially good, and the account of the large 

 bags made there must appear well-nigh incredible 

 to those who have had no experience of the sport 

 in such countries. I am bound to admit that I 

 myself was somewhat sceptical until I had the 

 opportunity of seeing and judging for myself. 



The Indian full snipe is precisely similar to 

 the British. It is, however, better fed, and, con- 

 sequently, not quite so active a bird. So well fed 

 and heavy are they that, when picked up, their 

 breasts may often be found to have burst by 

 reason of their weight. It would be difficult to 

 imagine a more delicate bird for the table than 

 an Indian snipe. 



