272 GROUSE, SNIPE, QUAIL, WOODCOCK, ETC. 



swamps and prairie-slouglis swarm with these birds 

 in the winter. English sportsmen, who have shot 

 them in the Northern States, have stated that they are 

 not so large as the European snipe, although they 

 closely resemble each other. This I imagine to be a 

 mistake, or else the birds are fatter in the South ; for 

 there I have frequently found them weigh five and 

 sometimes six ounces, which is fully equal to the weight 

 of snipe in Europe. 



The English snipe has fourteen feathers in the tail ; 

 the American sixteen. 



The American Bittern (Arclea minor.) — Indian Hen. 

 — The Quawk. These birds are seldom shot in the South, 

 though they are frequently flushed from the flags 

 surrounding the prairie-ponds and sloughs ; the people 

 having an absurd prejudice against eating them. I 

 have had an opportunity of killing more than a dozen 

 in the course of a day's duck- shooting ; but, knowing 

 that I should simply be killing them to no- purpose, I 

 have contented myself by killing a couple for my own 

 use, and allowed the others to go free. 



Their flesh is particularly white and delicate, and 

 when properly cooked there are few nicer birds. 

 In fact, in the South, the people care but little for 

 small game, and designate snipe, woodcocks, quail, and 

 grouse, as ' no account trash.' This only, of course, 

 applies to the rough backwoodsmen, whom the devil 

 provides with cooks, though surrounded with the 



