THE BIRDS OF SIXGAPOKE ISLAND 
"Their favourite i^round is where the jungfle has been 
tmrrifd, and the vtgct3tion+ just be^^inning: to spring up, shows 
in i^rcen shoots, abovL' the blackened soil. Another sure 
finding-place is rongh land, with bushes, small pools of water, 
and moist places scattered here and there; but everyw^here it 
will be found that during the intense heat of the day the Snipe 
avoid the open country, and seek shelter from the snn luider 
thick bushes, or in the shade of high jungle. They then lie 
very close, and when flushed rise with a listless flight, not 
infrequently settling ag;nn after flying eighty or a hundred 
yards, but of conrse this is not the case in districts where they 
are much shot at and disturbed. 
"Though undoubtedly, a^; a rule, the Malay Snipe are not 
so wild, nor so active on the wing as is the European species, 
still they afford excellent sport, and are by no means easy 
to shoot, particularly during the early morning, when, revived 
by the cool night air. they dart and twist along at a great pace ; 
also among bushes it requires very quick and straight shooting 
to make anything of a bag. 
"As soon as the sun gets low they lea\e the covert and 
scatter themselves all over the country in search of food; 
often on moonlight nights, when out in the jungle after pig, 
on crossing open pieces of ground where, during the day, 
not a bird could be found, I have heard snipe rise, squeaking 
on all sides. One most keen sportsman of my acquaintance 
sallied forth on one of these very bright nights: but though 
the Snipe swarmed, he returned without having done more 
than frighten them — not to be wondered at, considering how 
deceptive is the light of even the most brilliant tropical moon. 
"During droughts when the ground is parched and 
cracked by the heat, the Snipe probe the buffalo-dung, 
perforating the heaps with thousands of small holes in their 
search after the worms which collect beneath. 
"I think that there can be little doubt that Province 
Wellcsley, opposite the island of Penang, is by far the best 
Snipe-ground in the peninsula, probably owing to its being 
extremely flat, well watered, cleared of jungle, and perhaps 
to its being very near the limit of the migration south. To a 
very great extent it is covered with paddy-fields, and on the 
[80] 
