IN THE NORTH. 
Wellsville, N. T. 
Editor American Field : — Tuesday, January 24, Rev. E. 
H. Edson of our village called at my office and told me of a 
strange bird with long legs and a long bill that his children 
had seen frequently of late at the mouth of a spring near 
his residence. I became interested at once and suspected a 
snipe of some kind had been left over from the Fall flight. 
Immediately I called my old pointer. Shot, which was in 
my office, and went to the residence of Mr. Edson. Sure 
enough, just below where the spring of water made out 
from the bank we found the bird standing in the water. I 
sent the dog down there and he made a point that would de- 
light the heart of any sportsman. The bird was flushed, 
and flew away, perhaps forty-five yards, when it alighted 
again in the stream of shallow water coming from the 
spring. The old dog moved on and made another point 
which he held for a long time until I again flushed the 
bird. This time when the bird went up he gave his “scaipe” 
note, so common with Scolopax wilsoni, and there could be 
no question but that we had found a Wilson’s snipe. I 
never heard of a Wilson snipe being with us this time of 
year. For more than six weeks the ground has been frozen 
a foot in depth, and the ice upon the river is upward of 
fourteen inches in thickness. The ground was covered with 
snow several inches deep and had been for weeks. How- 
ever, at this place there is an open stream of water fifteen 
or twenty rods in length coming from the spring which 
never freezes, and cresses and green grass are now growing 
therein. 
This place is in the corporate limits of our village and 
within forty rods of our Main street. The spring is used 
for domestic purposes and water is taken from it half a 
dozen times or more every day. Upon inquiry I ascertained 
that the little children of Mr. Edson had frequently seen the 
bird of late when playing near the spring, t This snipe was 
in full plumage, apparently fat, and a large one, and I could 
discover no injury about it. I shall keep watch of this bird 
and am anxious to ascertain if it will stay with us until 
Spring. 
Have any of the readers of the American Field seen a 
live snipe in the Winter where such severe cold weather is 
found? Our altitude is 1,500 feet above sea level, and upon 
this day the mercury stood at zero and lower all day. 
Clarence A. Farncm. 
. SNIPES WINTERING : 
. . fa*-- , 
I TO^ES ;^ ^ ? ^ 
Lwenc eadillg th6 ^ ValUed Ambrioan I notice that 
evidence is required to support the theory that English 
snipes 0 Scolopax wilsonii) light on trees. Now, I am sure 
they do, and also woodcocks. Last Fall, as Jim Riley— 
the oarsman, who is a capital hunter and trapper-was 
polemg his duck punt through the Old Ditch, a sort of 
slough on the shore of Saratoga Lake, near the mouth of 
he Kayaderosarus Creek, and separated from the main 
lake by a strip of bog meadow, its shores being grown with 
cat-tails, wild rice, etc., and quite a favorable spot for ducks 
!!oueeMn S ’v e 'T’, 0 ' 10 6V0ning ’ comin S trough this place, 
a queer looking bird standing or perched on the branch of 
n old dead tree. Standing on the bank of this Old Ditch 
and't'^ I T t L 0d L- feet fr ° m th6 ground ’ he raised his gun 
and killed the bird while so perched. On picking it up he 
found it to be a veritable English snipe, and when he re- 
lated the circumstances to me, to make sure, I asked to see 
he bird and sure enough it was a genuine Scolopax wilsonii 
So much for English snipes perching on trees. Again, one 
Autumn while out for woodcocks near the mouth of this 
vayaderasaros Creek, where grow some large trunk wil- 
ows I flushed a woodcock and it alighted on the leaning 
trunk of one of these big willow trees, and seemed perfectly 
at home m this situation. The above are actual facts and 
n 0 i?] ti 1 , 1 ' 8 ?' t t Washington A. Coster. 
Flatbush, L. I. 
