SNIPE SHOOTING 323 



shooting season which is mostly the migratory sea- 

 son seem erratic and unknowable, if its unstable char- 

 acteristics may be called habits at all. It is in one place 

 to-day, and to-morrow in another. To-day there may 

 be an abundance, to-morrow a dearth. Or it may go 

 contrary to its erratic reputation and remain a num- 

 ber of days about the same grounds. Still, the shooter 

 is largely in ignorance of what the snipe will do next. 

 The weather and food conditions may be the same, 

 so far as observation can determine them, and yet 

 the birds come and go in their own whimsical way, 

 regardless of conditions. Some subtle, mysterious 

 impulse seems to impel the birds of a certain locality 

 either to come or go, though not in the manner of 

 birds which flock. 



Snipe fly mostly in ones or twos or threes, some- 

 times more, but always in small numbers. Being inde- 

 pendent in flight, it is difficult to understand how the 

 common impulse to seek other grounds is at the same 

 time felt and acted on by all the snipe of a certain 

 neighborhood, or at least by most of them. There 

 are many exceptions, as a matter of course; as, for 

 instance, in a section where there are snipe in abun- 

 dance on a certain day, a part only may leave at the 

 same time. Indeed, a few snipe may be found on cer- 

 tain grounds throughout the whole season. Yet, how- 

 ever much the exception may affect the rule, the greater 

 part of the birds are erratic and lawless most of the 

 time. 



No doubt that which seems whimsical and mysteri- 



