SCOLOPACHLE — THE SNIPE FAMILY — GALLINAGO. 
191 
JBy some it is suggested that the tameness of the birds may be accounted for by sup- 
posing that their fatigued and hungry condition renders them tenacious of their good 
feeding-ground, and reluctant to leave it. 
The Snipe is occasionally found in swampy thickets, but more generally in open 
meadows with a soft bottom. It leaves the Middle States by the end of April, and 
reaches its breeding-place early in May, where it remains until October. In the fall 
it is much fatter and more tender than in the spring. Although thus concentrating 
in rich feeding-grounds, yet the Snipe is by nature a solitary bird, and in its move- 
ments to and from its breeding-place it always proceeds singly. It spends its win- 
ter in the Southern States, as well as in regions farther south, and congregates in 
the Carolina rice-fields in immense numbers, and is much more confiding and tame 
than at the North. It commences its northern migrations in February, reaching 
Delaware in March, and becoming abundant in Pennsylvania in April. Its stay in any 
place during its spring migrations varies both in date and length, being controlled 
by the season and the abundance of its food. This consists largely of worms, larvae, 
small insects, and the tender roots of aquatic plants. In confinement tins bird will 
feed greedily upon corn-meal and worms, and can soon be accustomed to a diet of 
bread and milk. 
Lewis (“American Sportsman,” p. 184) describes some very singular manoeuvres 
of the Snipe which he witnessed in the spring. At early dawn he saw a pair mount 
high in the air, beating their wings and sailing around in rapid circles, until they 
had gained an elevation of a hundred yards or more ; then, approaching closely to 
each other, they whirled around, flapping their wings with great rapidity, and sud- 
denly dropped in mid-air, giving utterance at the same time to a low twittering, or 
rather a rolling sound, said to be produced by the action of their wings upon the air 
in their rapid descent. Toward the close of April all these birds that are mated 
move northward to their breeding-places ; but a few remain in the low marshy places 
of Pennsylvania all summer, and even rear their broods. In May, 1846, as Mr. Lewis 
was crossing an estate in Maryland, he started up one of this species from the midst 
of an oat-field ; and being attracted by its singular manoeuvres, made search for its 
nest, which was found to contain four eggs. It was placed on a rising piece of 
ground not far from a marshy meadow. 
The Snipe leaves its more northern breeding-places late in September with its 
young, stopping at favorable localities on the way. It remains several weeks in 
Pennsylvania and Delaware, and becomes very fat during its stay. In their migra- 
tions these birds move with great rapidity, and spread themselves over a wide extent 
of country in a very short space of time. They are voracious feeders, and obliged 
to shift their ground with great frequency. From situations where there is a plenti- 
ful supply of food, it is hardly possible to drive them entirely away. The Snipe is 
said to be better eating in the autumn than in the spring. 
On Hudson’s Bay — according to Hearne — the Snipe does not arrive until the 
ice of the rivers is broken up, and it retires to the south early in the fall. During 
its stay it always frequents the marshes near the sea-coast, as well as the shores of 
the great rivers. In its manner and flight it seemed to him exactly to resemble the 
European Snipe ; but its flesh he considered to be by no means so delicate. 
Captain Blakiston noted the arrival of the Snipe in the neighborhood of Fort 
Carlton as never earlier than May, while the last were seen in the autumn on the 
Lower Saskatchewan on the 1st of October. At the Red River settlement he found 
it on the 29t.h of April, where it arrives even earlier. He noticed that it performed 
the same aerial evolutions as the European bird, this usually occurring about situ- 
