TUE SNIPE.] 



BY FIELD, AVOOD, AND WvVTEK. 



[the 85IPE. 



black; the first edged with white, and the 

 soc'ondaries arc tip{>*'il with tho baiue. Thoso 

 iH'xt to tlio body aiv, with tlieir covorta, 

 striatt'd and barred with an iron-grey colonr. 

 Tho K)\vor breast and bt-Uy are whito ; uppor 

 tail-foverts brown, barred with bhick. Tlio 

 tail consists of fourteen black feathers, barred 

 and spotted with dull orange red towards the 

 i-nil, and with a narrow bar of black near the 

 tip, where it is of a pale rufous colour. The 

 legs vary ; in some they are dusky, or lead- 

 coloured, and in others black. 



The Jack Snipe (Scolopax GalUnula, Linn.) 

 This species is described, in the Ornithological 

 Dictionary, as nearly half the size of the com- 

 mon snipe, and weighs about two ounces. Its 

 length is about two inches and a-half. The 

 bill is nearly two inches long, of a lead colour, 

 black at the point, and the upper mandible of 

 a light colour, and the irides black. The 

 crown of the head is black, and slightly edged 

 with rusty brown, bordered on each side with 

 a yellowish streak, beneath which is a dusky 

 one ; and close above the eye is another streak 

 of a light colour. From the bill to tho eye is 

 a dusky stroke. The black is varied with 

 ferruginous brown, and dusky. The back, 

 rump, and scapulars are of a fine, glossy, 

 changeable green and purple ; the exterior 

 webs of the latter, deep buff colour, forming 

 the two conspicuous lines from the shoulder 

 to the tail. The quills are dusky, and so like- 

 wise are the wing-coverts, bordered with 

 brown. The lower breast, and all beneath, is 

 white. The tail is cuneiform, consisting of 

 twelve pointed dusky feathers, dashed more or 

 less with an iron-grey. The legs are of a 

 greenish hue. The jack snipe comes later in 

 the season than the common snipe; and no 

 instances are known of its ever having re- 

 mained in this country during the breeding 

 reason. It is very common in most countries 

 of Europe, as well as in the various states of 

 !North America. 



"We have already said that snipes are found 

 in tolerable abundance in all the old countries 

 of Europe, in Africa, Asia, and the islands of 

 the Eastern Archipelago. In the American 

 continent they are very numerous, especially in 

 the states of North and South Carolina. In 

 Egypt, they frequent the rice-fields or planta- 

 tiona in such swarms, that it is no uncommon 

 4 c 



circumstanco for a man to shoot a baskotful in 

 11 day. It is said, however, that tho sport 

 hero is fatiguing, from thu light earth of the 

 rico-grounda being so deeply mixed with water, 

 that tho shooter sinks, at every step ho takes, 

 often above tho knees. Snipes arrive in Lower 

 ICgypt at tho beginning of November, and 

 pass tho entire winter there. 



" The snipe is hardly ever found 



In woods ; he's fond of open ground. 



The ru.shy pond, tlie (|uict brook, 



l?ut cliiefly to the marshes look ; 



Tlie ])lashy heath and boggy moor 



Yield freciueiitly an ample store; 



Stick to them well when this the case is, 



They very quickly change their places ; 



To-day the sportsman can pursue 



The numerous game //// all is blue. 



To-morrow he goes out again, 



But mayn't a single shot obtain ; 



Affected by the wind and weather, 



They often flock away together ; 



Sometimes they to the hills repair, 



Rising in wliisps all wildly there ; 



Vain the pursuit, but if a gale 



Should quickly from the east prevail, 



Or even from the boisterous north, 



Again you ought to sally forth." 



These lines, though scarcely poetical, are 

 valuable, on account of the truthfulness of 

 their directions. They are taken from Re- 

 marks on Shooting, by Mr. Watt. 



The snipe begins to pipe in the first week 

 of April. Many breed in this country. Their 

 nests are composed of dried grass and plants, 

 now and then intermixed with feathers. They 

 lay four or five eggs — sometimes six are found 

 — of a dirty olive-colour, marked irregularly 

 with dusky spots. The young have an in- 

 formed, shapeless appearance. It has been 

 well ascertained that the mother never deserts 

 them until their bills have become long, and 

 of sufiicient firmness to enable them to seek 

 and procure food for themselves. When dis- 

 turbed much in the breeding season, tho 

 parents soar very high, and the male bird will 

 keep on the wing for an hour together, mount- 

 ing like a lark, and uttering a shrill and 

 piping noise. It then descends with great 

 velocity, and makes a bleating sound, resem- 

 bling that of a goat, which is repeated alter- 

 nately round the spot which the female occu- 

 pies, especially if she is then hatching her 

 eggs. This sound, in the days of superstition, 

 was called the cainpana ccclestis. 



5GI 



