• ^S‘ 
1873. 
Gal linage v/ilsoni. 
Maine (Lake Umbagog). 
Aug. 19. 
Sept.17 
S 
“ 18. 
1880. 
Sept. 3. 
Heard one at the Outlet shortly after dark. 
Pour vyere started on the Cainbridge River meadovrs. 
Eight were startodon the neadov/s. 
As it \7as getting dark this evening a pair of Snipe 
rose from the narsh and climbed the rosy vresterk sky until 
lost in the gloom above vrhence their hoarse scaipe came 
back through the still air. 
tt 
4. 
Shot three on the Cambridge River meadoe/s near the 
edge of the lower pond. Hera rank grass grev/’ in scat¬ 
tered clumps v/’ith bare spaces betr.Teon covered with a vel¬ 
vety tun of emeraid—groen moss. The ground vras o'/ery- 
whore moi.st and spungy, and there vroro occasional depres¬ 
sions filled with soft mud and a little -water and fairly 
perforated by Snipe “borings'’. 
6 . 
11 , 
Flushed one three times 
Y/ith a heavv 'whirrinn of tiio 
on the meadows. It rose 
wings f,and flov; off in a 
perfectly straight course and in silence. At the third 
rise it took a long flight and alighted on the edge of 
the \/oods in a deep dry grassy ditch. In the evening 
tv/ilight as I .was paddling up river a Snipe shot close 
over the boat, its ’wings making a distinct rushing sound. 
Entering tiie patch of meadov/- vhiore I find most of 
those birds now, rny eye happened to light on a bare 
space among the rushes and in the very middle 'was a Snipe 
standing erect and still. The next moment my setter 
gallopped past : and getting tiie bird’s v/'ind v/heeled and 
came to a point. The Snipe, mearuwhile, had skulked under 
an overhanging leaf of pickerel weed ./hero [ t-, squatted 
in plain sight . It ws a beautiful tableau,—the 
graceful game bird cowering uiwler its sliglit orotoction 
and the intelligent dog, rigid c..s a statue, staring iwith 
fixed eyes anc! finkled forhead at the spot v/honce the 
hot scent came to his dilated nostrils. The cool breeze 
rustled among the leaves and played with the fringe on 
the dogs tail. Overhead a fisli hawk v;as circling; 
a flock of Titlarks ’whirled by and a Heron hanked harsh¬ 
ly somevmere in the marsh beyond; but the three figures 
in this central groop remained immovable for I had cought 
soroGtning of the setter’s spirit and felt reluetent to 
roak the spell. Finally the end came as it alwavs 
must. ^ The Snipe sprang lightly into the air and“dash¬ 
ed ofi in zig-zagf flight, the loud report of the gun 
rolled over the quiet meadow echoing back from the^'-^ods 
beyond, a few feathers floated oh the breezo, and the 
bird fell lifeless into the tall grass. 
