at any other time of the year. This, no doubt, is due 

 to the flooding of the fen -districts. In ordinary circum- 

 stance the first noticeable ' flights ' of Snipes visit us 

 after the October rains, but these flights have of late 

 years most lamentably diminished in numerical strength, 

 and nowadays a bag of five couples of Snipes in a long 

 day's walk would be a notable achievement in our 

 meadows. It was not always so, but I think that 

 a proportionate decrease would be confirmed from many 

 of the most favoured localities in the eastern counties of 

 England. In my opinion Snipe-shooting holds the first 

 place in the list of diversions with the gun, and as long 

 as I was able I never lost an opportunity of indulging 

 in it at home or abroad. Accounts of shooting experi- 

 ences at feathered game are apt to weary the general 

 reader, but to any one who delights in vivid description, 

 and excellent advice on such matters, I most strongly 

 recommend the Snipe-shooting details given by Mr. F. B. 

 Simson in his altogether delightful work entitled 

 ' Letters on Sport in Eastern Bengal.' 



The favourite breeding-grounds of this species are 

 moorlands and undrained sedge-fens, but they often 

 select comparatively well-drained meadows as nesting- 

 places. The nest is generally pretty well concealed in 

 a tuft of sedge, a tussock of rushes or coarse grass, and 

 consists of a few stalks of bent or the common rush. 

 The eggs, four in number, are generally laid during the 

 first fortnight of April, and hatched in about sixteen 

 days. A second brood is often reared. If the weather 

 is sunny and fine in the early part of March, the Snipe, 

 on rising from the ground, instead of giving forth its 



