SNIPE. 823 
and thus present easier shots than if they went straight 
away in their usual zigzag course. 
They commence migrating southward from the extreme 
north about the month of September or October, and 
make several stoppages on the way, resting wherever food 
isabundant. Their favorite time for travelling is on mur- 
ky, drizzling days. If asingle bird is flushed on such 
days, its sharp call is answered by every snipe in the field, 
and all rise together, dart about in the air, and give vent 
to their feelings in many cries of “‘scaipe.” The snipe has 
the habit of hovering, and of producing a noise with its 
wings as it descends, which is so characteristic of the wood- 
cock and some of the grouse. The hovering is practised in 
hazy weather during the spring, and frequently continued 
all day, half a dozen perhaps, being engaged in it at the 
same time. Large numbers are destroyed at this period 
by market-hunters, as the birds are fat and lazy, especi- 
ally if the season is warm and clear. They do not go 
South in the autumn until the frost has made the ground 
so hard that their long, soft bills cannot penetrate it when 
they are searching for the juicy worms. 
The Gallinago wilsonit, which is also known as the 
English, the American, and the jack snipe, is a true rep- 
resentative of its family, and has all the cunning and 
caution which has given its European namesake the high 
character it bears among sportsmen. This species returns 
from its winter quarters in the South about April, and, 
while large numbers breed in the United States, the major- 
ity go further north to raise their families. The male 1s 
very domestic in his habits, for, if he is not engaged in 
cheering his spouse by hovering and drumming over her 
nest, he is busily at work providing her with food. He 
resorts to the usual ‘‘tricks of his trade,” to lead foes 
away from the young, but if he is unsuccessful, he sounds 
a note of alarm, and the chicks, on hearing it, seek safety 
in a convenient tussock until the threatened danger has 
