SNIPE SHOOTING. 71 



The rice fields of Egypt swarm with them in 

 winter ; they are found in Java and Sumatra, 

 and almost all the islands of the Indian sea. 



In Madagascar they are abundant; also in 

 Ceylon and Japan ; they have been killed in 

 great numbers at the Falkland Islands, and 

 other stormy and desolate solitudes of the south- 

 ern Atlantic. 



They are common in the Arctic regions of 

 Siberia, and in every part of the old continent. 



In North America, they are said to be abund- 

 ant in the golden regions of the Pacific, and are 

 found every where in the United States. 



They afford sport to the citizens of New Or- 

 leans and Mobile, and are known all along the 

 course of " the great father of waters." 



With few exceptions, they breed far to the 

 north, and in Canada, we believe, are only shot 

 in the fall, before they begin to move off to their 

 winter home in the south. 



Snipe are often found in very wet situations. 

 We have sometimes flushed them late in the 

 spring from low meadows in the interior of the 

 state, which were so covered with water that the 

 ends of the blades of grass just appeared on the 

 surface. 



Notwithstanding their wandering and way- 



