A MORNING WITHOUT THE BIRDS. 33 
Willet, about the same size as the last, with a light gray 
body and black and white wings ; the Bull-head, or Black- 
breast Plover; the Golden or Greenback Plover, two fine 
birds for the table, the latter the better of the two; the 
Yel per, or large Yellowlegs ; the Small Yellowlegs ; the Do- 
witch, or Dowitcher, an excellent table morsel, and the only 
true snipe, ornithologically considered, in the entire list; Rob¬ 
in-snipe, somewhat similar in appearance to the Dowitcher ; 
Brant bird, or Turnstone, a beautiful but rather tough varie¬ 
ty ; the Kricker, or Shortneck; the Peep, or Longshanked 
sandpiper; the Ringneck; the Sand snipe; the Surf snipe 
and the Ox-eye, and others which are seen less frequently. 
Every one of these has its own individual and characteristic 
whistle, which must be imitated by the gunner as nearly as 
possible. Each variety must be distinguished and recognized 
as soon as seen, for they often fly in perfect silence, and will 
not notice the decoys unless called. They are recognized by 
their size, color and manner of flight; and an experienced 
gunner, with perfect eyesight, can tell them apart at a pro¬ 
digious distance. Of them all the “Jacks” are the most 
wary, and as a consequence maintain their numbers less 
diminished than any of the others. Some varieties, like the 
Golden plover, have been almost exterminated, and in olden 
times a day’s sport was not determined by count, but, like 
the Biblical feast, by bushel-basketfuls. As they come to the 
stand, they hover and set their wings, and drop their legs as 
if to alight; and will often do so if undisturbed; but the 
true sportsman never waits for that, but picks out a crossing 
pair or more and shoots at those. At the report the fright¬ 
ened flock will dart about in terror, “ skiver,” as it is techni¬ 
cally called, making the second shot as difficult as the first is 
easy. In a moment they will have so entirely regained their 
courage that those which escaped will wheel and return for a 
second or third shot, until sometimes they are all killed. 
The sport, if it is good and the birds plenty, is exciting. 
The variety of species, the difference of call and flight, the 
uncertainty of bringing the game within range, when it is 
hesitating whether to come or not, and the difficulty in se- 
