160 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



yj I first observed this habit of the American Snipe, Avhich is ut- 



terly at variance with the habit of its European congener, at the 

 ' -y EngHsh Neighborhood, on the Hackensack River, where, by 



'*" " mere accident, I stumbled on a number of birds in the cow- 

 Itv ■' patlis, among thick brushwood, far above the salt meadows, to- 

 ward the Upland. I next found them in similar ground on a 

 very wild day, at the end of March, or the beginning of April, 

 on the Long Meadow at Pine Brook. On that occasion the 

 birds were all busily employed in drumming, — a habit of the 

 Snipe, as it is generally stated by naturalists, during the breed- 

 « ing season. I have myself, however, never witnessed it, except 



immediately on their arrival in this district, long before they had 

 V even begun to pair. The habit is, however, clearly connected 



with their nuptial and vernal propensities, and probably conti- 

 A' , nues from the commencement of their sexual intercourse, to the 

 !• /' end of their incubation. It is performed, I believe, solely by 

 the male bird, which rises in the air till he is almost out of sight, 

 where he disports him for hours in mid ether, sailing round and 

 round in small circles, and at times letting himself fall, fifty feet 

 ^ or more, plumb down, before he again sails on his wing. It is 



^' ■ during these perpendicular descents, that this strange, powerful, 

 and musical hum is uttered, — it is comparable to no other sound 

 that I can name, and must be heard to be conceived. It is very 

 pleasing and sonorous, and may be distinguished at a great dis- 

 tance. Once heard, it can be mistaken for no other noise, made 

 by either bird or beast, — nor will the sportsman be apt to for- 

 get it, as it is to him strangely ill-omened ; for, while it is going 

 on, birds will rarely or never suffer themselves to be approached 

 within gunshot, — rising, as soon as flushed, spirally into the air, 

 each seeming to call up another by the sound, and sporting to- 

 gether aloft, " whirling round each other," to borrow the elo- 

 quent language of Mr. Audubon, " with extreme velocity, and 

 dancing as it were to their own music ; for at this juncture, and 

 during the space of five or six minutes, you hear rolling notes 

 mingling together, each more or less distinct, perhaps according 

 to the state of the atmosphere." I was surprised to find that 



