THE SNIPE 271 



bagged thirty-eight snipe and two golden plovers — all 

 killed in that cornfield and the one adjacent, where I 

 followed a few of the birds. 



The snipe return to the Northern States in Septem- 

 ber, but many of the good spring grounds are then 

 entirely dried up, and being unsuitable for boring, the 

 snipe do not visit them. In the autumn I have often 

 found the snipe in the ditches and about the edges of 

 small streams where the ground is soft enough for 

 boring. I have found them abundant in the autumn 

 on the marshes controlled by the duck clubs about 

 Lake Erie ; usually on the muddy margins of the ponds 

 or water-holes, or along the streams or sloughs. When 

 the meadows are dry, the snipe must necessarily go to 

 the marshes owned by the clubs, and in many places 

 there is no fall shooting at snipe except for club 

 members. 



When the snipe first arrive in the spring they are 

 w^ild and in poor condition, but in a few days they 

 become fat and lazy, and on warm days lie fairly well 

 to the dogs. In wild, windy weather they have a 

 habit of flying up to a great height and letting them- 

 selves fall through the air with a humming noise pro- 

 duced by the wings. This performance, which it will 

 be observed is somewhat similar to the courtship of 

 the woodcock, is repeated over and over again, the 

 snipe descending (not to earth, however, and often not 

 low enough for a shot), and then soaring aloft and 

 dropping as before. At such times snipe will not lie 

 to the dogs, and those found on the meadow are as 

 wild as hawks, and the sportsman cannot expect to 

 meet with any success until this performance of 



