428 GAME-BIRDS. 



which is to their liking for several weeks. But though they 

 have been found and shot as early as August, and as late as 

 December, the most favorable time is between September 10 

 and October 25, and of this period the last fortnight is the 

 best portion. 



In all the accounts of these birds which are accessible to 

 him, the author finds the ancient, time-honored tradition, that 

 the Snipe always begin their flights by rapid zigzags, so that 

 it behooves the shooter either to fire at the instant when the 

 birds attain the height of their first spring, or to wait till 

 they have completed - their zigzags and begin their steady 

 flight. The beginner, deeply impressed by these statements, 

 his mind filled with the idea that the flight of the Snipe is 

 much like that of a tortuous lightning flash through a cloud, 

 sets out, and, adopting one or the other of these absurd rules, 

 is sure to miss. Inasmuch as the Snipe, five times out of six, 

 in most weather does not spring at all, to fire at the height 

 of the first spring means to the beginner to fire as soon as he 

 can, that is as much as possible before he gets his aim. On 

 the other hand, to wait until the bird has done with zigzag- 

 ging necessitates waiting imtil he has begun zigzagging, and, 

 as he generally does not zigzag at aU, this involves waiting 

 some time. Trom the expression, " zigzag flight," would not 

 the natural impression be that the bird kept darting rapidly 

 with sharp, quick, short turns from side to side ? That such 

 is the Snipe's usual flight is certainly not true, though it is 

 undoubtedly often rapid and sometimes eccentric. The au- 

 thor's experience is, for these days of rapid travel, limited, but 

 after shooting Snipe at different seasons in the British Pro- 

 vinces, in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, 

 Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina, he ventures to as- 

 sert that they almost never " zigzag " in their flight.* 



* This assertion — -with the state- very frequently is directly contrary to 



ments to the same effect which precede the impressions of most persons who 



and follow it — is simply inexplicable, have had occasion to study its habits, 



coming as it does from a sportsman Indeed, the published testimony on 



whose familiarity with Wilson's Snipe this point is so voluminous and conclu- 



cannot be questioned. That this bird, sive that I need only add that the 



when flushed, occasionally flies away " time-honored tradition " to which the 



in a straight line is undeniably true, present writer alludes is, in my opin- 



but that it does so habitually or even ion, unquestionably true. — W. B. 



