CHAPTER IE. 



BAY-SNIPE SHOOTING. 



THE yarious writers on the different kinds of sport 

 in our country have generally devoted their atten- 

 tion to upland shooting ; to the quail, woodcock, 

 English snipe, ruffed grouse of the hills, dales, and 

 meadows, to the prairie-chicken of the far west, or to 

 the larger game the ducks, geese, and swans of our 

 coast; and the few suggestions to be found in 

 Frank Forester's Field /Sports, or Lewis's Ame- 

 rican Sportsman, are of little assistance in discuss- 

 ing the mode of capture of their less fashionable 

 and less marketable brethren called bay-snipe. 

 Having no guides to aid me but my own experience, 

 and differing frequently in my views from the opi- 

 nions expressed by the scientific ornithologists, I 

 approach the consideration of this subject with diffi- 

 dence ; and for the many errors that a pioneer must 

 inevitably commit, I crave the indulgence of the 

 public. 



The birds that are shot along our shores upon the 

 sand-bars or oroad salt meadows, or even upon the 

 adjoining fields of upland, are among sportsmen 

 termed bay-birds or bay-snipe; and although includ- 

 ing several distinct varieties, present a general 

 similarity in manners and habits. They are ordi- 



