40 SHORE BIRDS. 
of this kind that almost all our sporting book writers draw 
for their material, and not from real experience; hence 
errors and traditions are banded down to us, and continued 
ignorance is the result. 
From the Bay of Fundy in the North, to the Florida Reefs 
in the Sou’h, there are miles of the Atlantic coast shielded 
by long sand bars and shoals, which, at every ebbing tide, 
abound with every variety of aquatic food. At one time or 
another throughout the year each locality is visited for a 
short or long period by the bay snipe. Leaving the South 
early in the spring, they seem drawn by some magnetic in¬ 
fluence toward the North, passing this vicinity in May, the 
date being regulated according to an early or la‘e season. 
Occe in their home in the fir North, th'-y speedily set about 
nesting and the rearing of their young. This i3 soon accom¬ 
plished, and then their return fight begins, the old birds 
preceding, followed by the young several weeks later. But 
it is a mistaken idea to suppose that all the varieties of bay 
snipe seek the North to pursue their matrimonial inclina¬ 
tions. Several kinds, and especially the wi let and some of 
the plover, breed to the south of New York. It is during 
the summer flight that the bay snipe run the gauntlet of the 
thousand stands that dot the coast from Maine to Eastern 
Virginia. We shall not attempt to specify each locality, 
particularly those that are remote, but simply mention the 
places that are easy of access and well known to the sports¬ 
men of this vicinity. 
Beginning at the north, we follow to the south the line of 
coast of these States on the Atlantic seaboard, mentioning 
the names of the counties of each in their geographical order, 
and the places where more or less shooting can be had at 
this season. Of course, the shcoting begins first at the 
North, but the rapidity with which the birds make their 
flight causes the first guns to be echoed along the coast, even 
to the far South, in quick succession. 
LIST OF PLACES WHERE BAY SNIPE ARE SHOT. 
Maine— -Washington County .—The Island of Grand 
Menan. The isla:d and bars along the entire coast of Han- 
