UPLAND SHOOTINfJ. 177 



a while, the young broods arc found on the ground in which 

 tliey are bred. 



And there is scarcely any sort of ground, in which the soil 

 consists of black vegetable mould, or ricli loam of any kind, 

 and in which there is a sufficiency of water, that is not conge- 

 nial to him as a breeding place — I except always the depths of 

 the primeval forests, in which he never is found. 



The narrowest ravines, down which the merest thread of wa- 

 ter trickles among bare gray rocks, provided there is a Ijcd of 

 rich succulent soil in the bottom of the swale, even at the 

 height of 800 feet above tide-water will hold a brood or two ; 

 so will the swampy bogs and morasses on the tops of th(> high- 

 est hills ; but the favorite breeding ground of the bird is un- 

 doubtedly level marsh meadows, interspersed with cluni])s and 

 thickets of willow and alder, maple groves, growing on swampy 

 land, and warm sequestered vallies. 



In South- West Jersey, they are found in the greatest abun- ^p" 

 dance on perfectly open meadows, among bog grass and rushes, ' , 



in exactly what would usually be called admirable Snipe- 'tit 



ground ; and I have killed them in the neighborhood of Sali-m, .,\(^,. 

 in considerable numbers, where there was n(tl a tree uv ])iish 

 within half a mile. This approximation of habits between the H 



two kindred species, of Snipe and Woodcock, is very curious < ■ , 

 and interesting — the fonner bird, as we have seen above, under ' 



certain circumstances and in peculiar districts, betaking himself ^ ^'. v 

 to the wooded haunts of his nearest blood relation, and the lat- • \ n.i 

 ter, when in a treeless country, making himself at home among ' 

 marshy levels better adapted to the general habits of his cousin. 

 On no ground, however, have I ever seen, or shall I, I much 

 fear, ever again see this bird in such multitudes, as on what are 

 called the " Drowned Lands " in Orange county, N. Y. These 

 are a vast tract of level country, surrounding the various branch- 

 es and tributary streams of the Walkill — it extends many miles 

 in length, and contains every sort of lying — tall open groves, 

 impenetrable fastnesses of brake and thicket, wide reaches of 

 perfectly open bog-meadow, and as wide expanses of open 

 12 



