218 BAY-SNIPE SHOOTING. 



who could do better. At Quogue, decoys were first 

 used about the year 1850, and the best day's sport of 

 late was one hundred and thirty-eight birds. 



West of Quogue there are some snipe, and occa- 

 sionally a good flight at South Oyster Bay, and 

 more rarely still at Rockaway ; but the large birds 

 are not numerous north of New Jersey. Squan 

 Beach, Barnegat, Egg Harbor, and Brigantine Beach 

 are famous for the large birds — the sickle-bills, cur- 

 lews, willets, and marlins — that visit them ; the 

 same number of shots cannot be obtained as at 

 Quogue, but the bag is larger. At the former 

 places there is also a flight, of greater or less extent, 

 of dowitchers and yellow-legs, but these are not so 

 abundant as along the margin of the Great South 

 Bay of Long Island. On the other hand, a bag of 

 one hundred of the larger varieties is not unusual; 

 while at Egg Harbor the robin-snipe, which affect 

 marshy islands are exceedingly numerous. 



Twenty years ago there was good bay-snipe shoot- 

 ing at what is termed "Fire Island," and even in 

 the year 1883 there was a remarkable flight late in 

 the fall; But the cry of old George, which the 

 gunners of "long ago "welcomed in their youth, 

 is never heard now; George and his salutation have 

 departed, and "Wake up, all them as is goin' 

 sniping "' is a thing of the j)ast. 



