SEMIPALMATED SNIPE. 511 



surprise, I saw them alight on the bushes and trees with as much ease as 

 if they had been land birds, stand erect, open their wings to the sun, and 

 await our approach, exhibiting, when thus perched, much less shyness 

 than when on the ground. Until then I had never observed such a habit 

 in this bird, and indeed had felt surprised at seeing the Bartram Snipe, 

 Totanus Bartramius, alight on fences and trees. Nothing of this kind is 

 mentioned by Wilson, who, however, speaks of both species as if he were 

 well acquainted with their habits. A few days after my visit to the Duck 

 Keys, some nests containing eggs were found on other islets not far dis- 

 tant. 



Along the shores of the Carolinas, this species begins to lay about the 

 beginning of April ; but in the Middle States, in New Jersey, for example, 

 it seldom makes its appearance before the 15th of April, and does not be- 

 gin to breed until a month later. At the approach of the love season, 

 the Willets shew a great degree of vivacity, ramble much on wing, and 

 fill the air with their sharp cries. Once mated, they attend to the secu- 

 rity of their eggs and brood with affectionate care, and are silent until dis- 

 turbed by the approach of some of their numerous enemies. The sight 

 of a Crow, a Turkey Buzzard, a quadruped of any kind, and more espe- 

 cially of a gunner, at once excites the greatest alarm ; and, rising on wing, 

 they fly above and around you at a considerable distance, vociferating 

 their anger with great vehemence, and continually endeavouring to allure 

 you away from the spot where their treasure is concealed. Should they 

 have young broods, they not unfrequently alight within sight, emit click- 

 ing and querulous notes, raise their wings upright, and run over the 

 ground as if wounded, moving in so pitiable a manner as frequently to 

 excite a good feeling towards them in the gunner, who, should he be a 

 parent himself, is almost sure to leave them unmolested. When much 

 pursued, the birds join and form a flock, the individuals of which con- 

 tinue to wheel through the air, at some distance from their nests, until 

 their enemy has departed. 



The Semipalmated Snipe is at all times a shy and wary bird, so that 

 in approaching it the sportsman requires to use the greatest caution. The 

 method which I found most effectual was to employ a well- trained dog, 

 and conceal myself among the rankest herbage of the marshes. The 

 Willets rarely failed to fly close over the dog, and as he now and then, 

 playfully, as it were, approached me, the birds came within shooting dis- 

 tance. On such occasions, if one is brought down, another may follow, 



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