THE SNIPE OF AMERICA. 83 



transported me back to days long gone by, to the 

 society of old companions long under the sod, and a 

 happy circle of relations, to whom it was ever my 

 delight to exhibit the proofs of my skill. 



The Wilson snipe for by this name he is famil- 

 iarly known all over the American continent 

 spends the winter months in the Southern States, 

 principally in those that border the Gulf of Mexico ; 

 but as spring advances, they follow up northward 

 the line of demarkation between frost and thaw, 

 ultimately arriving in that boundless expanse which 

 stretches northward from the Great Lakes to the 

 Arctic Ocean. Up in this remote haunt is their 

 principal breeding-ground, although occasionally a 

 nest may be found much farther to the south ; but 

 in all instances of such that I have been able to find, 

 I have been induced to believe that either the male 

 or female bird had met with an accident, preventing 

 the following of the migration of his or her com- 

 panions. What a beautiful lesson all may learn 

 from this ; how it should speak home to the human 

 heart this attachment of the mate, who, sooner than 

 desert a companion, forsakes for the time being his 

 whole race, save one, and foregoes even following 

 the journey dictated by nature. 



