BAY-SNIPE SHOOTING. 73 



by the stools. They do not move much during 

 foggy weather, for the simple reason that they can- 

 not see their course, but do not seem to be troubled 

 by a rain. Although clear that is to say, not rainy 

 weather is preferable- on many accounts, for their 

 pursuit, good sport is frequently had, especially on 

 Long Island, during a rain. 



Their line of flight is peculiar. Except the plover, 

 they do not follow the entire coast, and are not 

 found to the eastward of Massachusetts, but appear 

 to strike directly from their northern haunts to Cape 

 Cod, where, in the neighborhood of Barnstable, 

 there was in former times excellent shooting ; thence 

 they proceed to Point Judith, or even somewhat to 

 the westward of it, and then they cross Long Island 

 Sound, rarely much to the eastward of Quogue ; from 

 Long Island they make one flight to Squan Beach, 

 and so on along the bays and lagoons of the south- 

 ern coast to the Equator, or perhaps beyond it to 

 the Antarctic region. The plovers follow the coast 

 more closely, and strike the easternmost end of Long 

 Island in their career. 



It is very remarkable, that these birds which 

 generally pass northward in May, and require 

 only three months for incubation and growth of 

 young, live the other nine months apparently in com- 

 parative idleness at the south. This peculiarity has 

 led to the suggestion that they may travel to the 

 Antarctic ocean during their absence from the north 

 which, although probable, is as yet, from our entire 

 ignorance of their habits, a mere suggestion. 

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