CHAPTER XI. 



WILSON'S, OR ENGLISH SNIPE. SCOLOPAX WILSON II- 



GALLINAGO. 



" To-day we spring the Snipe, 

 And with an eye as keen as does the Bird 

 Himself, by hunger's strongest law compelFd, 

 Explore each shelter'd drain, or hollow ditch." 



-SCOLOPAX 



THEIR DISTRIBUTION OVER THE WORLD. 



There is no Game Bird so widely distributed over the whole 

 world as the species now under consideration. They are found 

 in all countries, from the extreme points of Siberia even to 

 the uttermost limits of the South. The West India Islands, 

 as well as Ceylon and Japan, are annually visited by this little 

 Fowl, while the rice plantations of the Carolinas and the fertile 

 meadows of Egypt alike swarm with their multitudes. So 

 numerous are these Birds in the rich country of the Pharaohs, 

 that it is no unusual thing, after the harvest of rice, to sit 

 quietly in one place and shoot a large basketful of them in the 

 course of a few hours. Snipes are equally esteemed in all parts 

 of the world where they are known, and the richness and delicacy 



