WILSON'S SNIPE. 431 



and have known that number to be exceeded in favorable 

 weather. The Snipe lies close to the ground when ap- 

 proached ; and, being a bird of strong scent, as the expres- 

 sion is, is winded to a considerable distance by a good dog. 

 It is easy to imagine the excitement the sportsman experi- 

 ences, when, with a good dog, he enters a large meadow, 

 and sees him suddenly come to a point ; when, walking up 

 to the Snipe, and flushing it, the report of his gun, as he 

 shoots the bird, startles from their lurking-places perhaps 

 a dozen others, who fly but a short distance, uttering their 

 peculiar squeak or scalp, and then alight in the grass, prom- 

 ising him an abundance of shooting for the day. 



The Snipe, when first flushed, rapidly doubles and twists 

 in a quick, zigzag flight, which it continues for several rods, 

 when it takes a more direct course, almost always against 

 the wind. The sportsman, knowing this habit of the bird, 

 reserves his fire until it has stopped twisting, when his aim 

 is generally successful. Sometimes two birds rise at the 

 same time, when it requires considerable coolness and expe- 

 rience to secure both. I once got three double shots in 

 succession, securing all six birds : but such an occurrence 

 and good luck are rare ; and we must be satisfied, in most 

 shooting, to get but single birds. 



The Snipe, like the Woodcock, probes in the soft earth 

 for worms and animalcules, which it feeds upon : it also 

 eats the larvae of water-insects, and leeches, and occa- 

 sionally captures grasshoppers and other insects in the wet 

 grass in which it almost entirely resides. It is very diffi- 

 cult of approach in cloudy and windy weather ; but, in 

 warm, bright days in the fall, it is quiet, and lies until 

 approached quite near. It remains with us until the 

 ground is frozen in the meadow, when it moves to the 

 Southern States, where it passes the winter. 



