WILSON'S SNIPE 139 



the place mucli you will know just where to 

 find the birds, and have in mind every stretch 

 of mud, pondhole and clump of grass where you 

 have found them before. Sometimes you may 

 see the Snipe arriving in the marsh. Suddenly 

 he appears to you — ^where he came from you 

 know not — but there he is! With rapid wing 

 strokes he dashes around the marsh a hundred 

 yards up, seeking a suitable place on which to 

 rest and feed. His shining wing flickers in 

 the sun as the light colored under parts are 

 brought into sight and covered again, and he 

 shows up sharp and clear against the blue Oc- 

 tober sky as he goes darting over the tall wav- 

 ing grass and stretches of blue water, circling 

 about in silence — a marked contrast to any 

 other shorebird, which would have called and 

 whistled his arrival to every dweller in the 

 marsh, both friend and foe. Small success at- 

 tends your most alluring whistle for rarely does 

 the Snipe pay attention to any enticing call. 

 Our hero is unsocial and seldom cares for so- 

 ciety, even of his own aristocratic set, rarely 

 traveling in bunches of more than three birds 

 and more often coming alone. Now he has 

 found a place to his liking and half closing his 



