The Wilson Snipe 
it, whereupon it calmly swam across a little brook rather than bother to 
fly from the harmless birdman. 
All the members of the Snipe family proper, the Scolopacidce, rank 
high as table birds, but the Wilson Snipe, with the Woodcock, are the 
most highly prized. Water animalcule and many kinds of insects appear 
upon Jack’s bill-of-fare, but subterranean worms are the mainstay. These 
are obtained in large measure by the direct probing of the bird, who is 
provided with a long beak, having a sensitive and partly flexible tip, 
controlled by a special set of muscles. In addition to this, however, it 
appears to make use of an ingenious device. While walking through a 
marsh, patches of mud are often found sprinkled with small round holes 
set close together. These are the work of snipe, and are called “borings,” 
being made by the bird’s thrusting its long bill into the mud as far as the 
forehead. As it walks over and around the holes, insects and worms crawl 
out of them and are captured. Much the same thing may be done in a 
garden by boring a quantity of holes with a small stick, and then rapping 
the ground with it smartly. 
It is, however, neither as a viand nor a gourmand that some of us 
Taken in Inyo County Photo by the Author 
NEST AND EGGS OF WILSON SNIPE 
1217 
