196



Correspondence.



pinioned, and half the pleasure of keeping Waders is in watching their flight.

They are nearly all of them exceedingly agile on the wing and very clever at

avoiding obstacles, i.e., the supports, sides and roof of the aviary : a Knot,

Dunlin or Ruff will never knock itself about, but I would never put a full-winged

Snipe, however tame, into an aviary for even one night. My old Snipe,

mentioned in Mr. Barnby Smith’s recent article, was so tame that I had no

qualms about putting him into my pocket and taking him out and dumping him

down by a pond or stream (although absolutely full-winged) and letting him

probe for worms, etc., but I would never have left him in an aviary by himself—he

always inhabited a large cage in my smoking room, for sometimes he had for

companions another Snipe and a Woodcock. This second Snipe was very fairly

tame, but I found him one morning with his right eye nearly smashed out of

his head and his head fearfully bruised. He had obviously dashed against the

top of the cage in the night, and had managed to get up sufficient impetus in

quite a small space to nearly kill himself: had he been in an aviary where he

would have had more room to “ get going,” he would certainly have done so.

I don’t believe it is fright that makes Snipe suddenly dash up at night

(though, of course, the sudden advent of a cat or Owl on the roof of the aviary

would be fatal) but they seem to forget the wire netting at night, and being very

quick starters, hit the sides or roof of the aviary with tremendous force.


At different times I have kept five Snipe for various periods, the one great

drawback to them is their enormous appetites, and they MUST have worms and

more worms ! Some of my Snipe have steadfastly refused any artificial food,

even raw liver, chopped up, and these are the ones that have lived longest. My

old bird, which I had for 2£ years, never touched artificial food after he was a

month old, though I did my best to make him. He loved maggots and fresh¬

water shrimps. I have always found that the ones which would eat soft food (and

they get to love it) always suddenly went thin, but recovered if one stopped

the soft food and only gave live food fora time. Lots of grit is essential—and

water.


A short time ago I received a Snipe from Mr. St. Quintin, which had been

picked up under a telegraph wire ten days before he sent it to me. It reached

me thin, but otherwise sound I think ; though Mr. St. Quintin told me that its

left wing was badly bruised high up when it was found, but this is nearly right

again now, and as its appetite is good I think it will soon be quite fit ; it is

an exceptionally large bird, and when it has got into really good order should be a

beauty. He is sharing a cage with another gift I received from Mr. St. Quintin

about two months ago which, next to my old Snipe, is about the most charming

bird I ever had. A male Red-necked Phalarope. He was imported from Iceland

by Mr. Barnby Smith in thesummer of 1912, and had, until Mr. St. Quintin very

kindly sent it to me, been atScampstonall the time. Mr. St. Quintin tells me that

he had been fed on “ Cecto,” maggots, and mealworms, which are still his staple

food, but out of curiosity I caught a lot of minnows, water beetles, boatmen, and



