The Wilson Snipe 



it, whereupon it calmly swam across a little brook rather than bother to 

 fly from the harmless birdman. 



All the members of the Snipe family proper, the Scolopacidce, rank 

 high as table birds, but the Wilson Snipe, with the Woodcock, are the 

 most highly prized. Water animalcule and many kinds of insects appear 

 upon Jack's bill-of-fare, but subterranean worms are the mainstay. These 

 are obtained in large measure by the direct probing of the bird, who is 

 provided with a long beak, having a sensitive and partly flexible tip, 

 controlled by a special set of muscles. In addition to this, however, it 

 appears to make use of an ingenious device. While walking through a 

 marsh, patches of mud are often found sprinkled with small round holes 

 set close together. These are the work of snipe, and are called "borings," 

 being made by the bird's thrusting its long bill into the mud as far as the 

 forehead. As it walks over and around the holes, insects and worms crawl 

 out of them and are captured. Much the same thing may be done in a 

 garden by boring a quantity of holes with a small stick, and then rapping 

 the ground with it smartly. 



It is, however, neither as a viand nor a gourmand that some of us 



Taken in Inyo County 



Photo by the A uthor 



NEST AND EGGS OF WILSON SNIPE 



1217 



