SNIPE, AND SNIPE-SHOOTING. 243 



fast, received my second shot, but I aimed not quite 

 far enough in advance of him, and failed to stop him. 

 He was hit, however, and flew but about 100 yards, 

 and dropped upon the far edge of the farthest knoll to 

 my left. Keeping my eyes on the spot, I went there at 

 once, after one of my setters had retrieved the dead bird. 

 On reaching the place, my dogs took the scent, but failed 

 to find the bird. It had not flushed, or I should have seen 

 it; and there was no cover for it to have hidden in. After 

 long searching by my dogs and myself, I gave it up; but 

 I am now satisfied that that snipe entered the water, 

 there about twenty yards wide, and swam over to a wet 

 thicket on the farther shore. Had I sent one of my dogs 

 across the water, that bird would have been bagged, for 

 if he had flushed again, he would have done so within 

 easy range. 



So far, all writers, while they admit that during the 

 spring migration snipe resort to other grounds than the 

 open meadows, make no mention, so far as I know, of 

 their being anywhere except on the open meadows during 

 autumn; and some claim that they are to be found only 

 on the open ground. This latter claim I have found to 

 be a mistake. During the autumn, I have found them 

 along neglected meadow ditches overhung by large willow 

 trees, and again, hidden in the reeds along the banks of 

 creeks. Though Forester asserts positively that at this 

 season they never go there, I have shot them repeatedly 

 in wet woodland meadows, and on high meadows over- 

 grown with tussocks of coarse grass, where the ground 

 was hard, and as dry as the inside of a powder-canister. 



One fact worth mentioning is, that I have found 

 them in such spots only during the middle of the day, 

 and I have always believed that, after feeding during the 

 morning hours, they retire to such places to dress and 

 preen their feathers, and perhaps to take a digestive 



