WILSON SNIPE 357 



alighting in the grass near me. During the last part of this performance 

 another Snipe, probably the female, made its appearance, flying low over the 

 ground and alighting with a weak "chirp." A little later one of the birds 

 was seen perched on the top of a spruce, uttering a prolonged series of abrupt, 

 resonant notes, " ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, " like the monotonous spring song of the 

 Eed-shafted Tlicker. 



Coneerning flights of the sort described above Henshaw says 

 (18806, pp. 321-322): "During the mating, and in fact through 

 most of the breeding period, and continuing even after the young are 

 hatched, the birds begin these evolutions as soon as dusk comes on, and 

 continue them at irregular intervals until about nine o'clock. The 

 notes are not heard again until about day-break, and they cease before 

 sun-up. But should the day be cloudy the Snipe may be seen flying 

 in the manner described till late in the morning, often indeed till 

 nearly noon." 



"In courtship, the male struts with drooping wings and wide- 

 spread tail around his mate, in a most captivating manner, often at 

 such times rising spiral-like with quickly beating wings high in air, 

 dropping back in a wavy, graceful circle, uttering at the same time his 

 jarring, cackling love note, which, with the vibration of the wings 

 upon the air, makes a rather pleasing sound" (Goss, 1891, p. 161). 



The young run about soon after hatching. At first they feed on 

 larvae, small insects and snails, but at the end of a few weeks their 

 bills have hardened sufficiently to enable them to probe in the mud 

 and secure worms as do the adults (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 

 1884, I, p. 192). 



Snipe are essentially non-flocking birds, but at times as many as 

 fifteen individuals have been seen in fiight in one con;pany. This 

 habit, is chiefly shown during the period of migration. One observer 

 noted a flock of birds coming into some duck grounds at nightfall. 

 The flight was not in unison, as in the case of many shore birds, but 

 the individuality of each member of the flock was apparent. Migration 

 and local movements occur chiefly at night, and the flights are at 

 lower levels than in the case of most birds. 



As indicated in the preceding portions of this account a large pro- 

 portion of the food of the Wilson Snipe consists of earthworms secured 

 by probing in soft meadow or marsh land. The bird is also reported 

 to take crane-fly larvae, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, wireworms and the 

 adult click beetles, and water beetles (McAtee, 1911a). In addition, 

 Forbush (1912, p. 252) reports that cutworms and leeches, seeds of 

 smartweed and other plants, together with roots and other vegetable 

 matter have been found in the stomachs of these birds. 



Economically the Wilson Snipe is a very important species; in 

 fact it may, by reason of the interest taken in it by hunters, be con- 



