AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
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VOLUME XXXIV.—No. 3. NEW YORK, MARCH, 1875. NEW SERIES—No. 338. 
SNIPE SHOOTING. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The first game hini that it is permissable to shoot, 
after winter is over, is Wilson’s, or as it is more 
familiarly called, “English” Snipe, and no other 
of the snipes is pursued so eagerly, or esteemed 
more highly by the sportsman. Lying well before 
the dog, taking wing swiftly, with a zig zag motion, 
requiring a keen eye and steady hand to stop him, 
he is the most trying, at the same time most fasci¬ 
nating, to the ardent sportsman, of any bird that 
flies. About the 10th of March, if the weather be 
at all favorable, the Snipe begin their Northern 
migrations, travelling principally at night; their 
peculiar squeaking note may he detected by a prac¬ 
ticed ear, as they pass to thoir feeding grounds, 
which in the spring are along the meadow lands 
and skirts of uplands, where spring brooks drain 
from low swamps. A peculiar feature is their 
extreme sensitiveness to atmospheric changes; 
they may one day abound along the drains and 
thickets, hut if in the night the wind should 
change, only a few birds will he found. On a dark, 
chilly, windy day, such as shown in our illustra¬ 
tion, the snipe may he found among hunches of 
Cat-tails, and even in very open woods bordering 
the meadows. A good dog is required, one of keen 
nose, and obedient disposition, as aheadstrong dog 
may disturb a meadow full of birds, and not only 
spoil sport, hut the sportman’s temper for the day. 
There are other species of snipe hunted, hut 
none so prized as the English Snipe. Bay Snipe 
are shot over decoys, placed upon the edge of the 
water, while the shooter taking his place behind a 
screen of hay, grass, or other shelter, thins out 
the flocks by repeated shots, killing great numbers. 
But this is hardly deemed sport by the snipe shoot¬ 
er, who, priding himself upon his indifference to 
rain, mud, and cold, and the fatigue of jumping 
ditches, crawling out of bog holes, and involun¬ 
tary baths in spring ditches, finds his game with, 
the aid of his dog; gives it a fair chance, cuts it 
down clean and suddenly, and does not leave a 
dozen wounded birds to flutter away and perish. 
