SNIPE AND THEIR DISTINCTIONS 



In many parts of the world where, from the nature 

 of the country, game is not to be found in any 

 quantity, sportsmen would fare badly if it were not 

 for Snipe. Few birds are more widely distributed 

 over the surface of the globe, and when found in 

 their proper haunts and at the right season of the 

 year, having regard to their migratory habits, no 

 birds afford better sport with the gun. Almost 

 every country has its own peculiar species, bearing, 

 it is true, a general resemblance in colour and 

 markings to the European snipe, with which the 

 generality of sportsmen are familiar, yet differing 

 from that bird in certain respects which have only 

 to be pointed out to be at once recognised. The 

 general family likeness, indeed, is so great that 

 even those who have shot hundreds of Snipe in 

 India, Ceylon, South Africa, and North and South 

 America seldom recognise the fact that they are 

 distinct from those which are to be met with on 

 English marshes, or in Irish bogs. The reason for 

 this general resemblance is obvious. The coloura- 

 tion of these birds is protective. The dark body 

 colour crossed with pale buff lines, which harmonise 

 so well with the peaty soil and the withered grass 

 stems amongst which these birds live, favours their 

 concealment in the most effective manner ; so much 



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