160 FEATHERED GAME 
in flocks averaging from twenty to fifty mem- 
bers, rarely more, and split up into small par- 
ties upon arrival in our marshes, gathering 
again into larger bunches when they resume 
their travels. 
The Grassbird is swift of wing and snipe-like 
in many respects, lying well to the dog and af- 
fording good sport when so hunted. From this 
similarity of habits, their proper behavior in 
dog society, their occasional darting flight— 
sometimes dodging from side to side when much 
alarmed—they are called ‘‘Jack-Snipe’’ by 
many gunners, a term more widely applied to 
Wilson’s snipe. Where this name is given the 
Grassbird the true snipe is usually called the 
‘‘English snipe.’’ The Grassbird is known by 
many other names in the different localities 
which he visits, among them’ ‘‘Grass Snipe,’’ 
‘‘Marsh Plover,’’ and ‘‘Meadow Snipe,’’ most 
gunners insisting on calling him a Snipe, except 
in New England, where he is generally known 
as the ‘‘Grassbird.’’ 
In times past these birds were not much mo- 
lested, being thought beneath the gunner’s no- 
tice and not worth the ammunition needed for 
their destruction, but in the present game scar- 
