
Status in 1951.--Without sample count data from previous years, 
it is necessary to rely on statements from Federal and state biologists, 
refuge managers, game wardens and other active field men regarding status 
of the snipe in 1950-51 as compared with recent winters. 
Dry weather, particularly in eastern Texas and western and northern 
Louisiana, definitely resulted in a lower wintering population of snipe 
in those areas during the present season. That some of the birds from 
the drought area may have wintered in the coastal marshes to the south 
is suggested by an increase (more than for several years) on the Sabine 
Refuge in southwestern Louisiana. The only other increase reported was 
along Chenier au Tigre near the coast of central southern Louisiana; in 
the marsh land just to the north of the chenier, however, the snipe was 
definitely less common this year than in the past few years. As far south- 
east as Baton Rouge, low water levels were at. least partly responsible for 
the fact that the snipe was much scarcer than in the previous year. Along 
the bayous south and west of New Orleans, however, where water levels were 
favorable, snipe were still scarcer than in the previous year. 
Effects of Gulf Coast Ice Storm, January-February 1951.--The severe 
ice storm ch occurred in the G States in late January and early 
February was described by newspaper men as "the worst ice and snow storm 
ever to hit Louisiana and Mississippi." Some snipe mortality very likely 
resulted, but this was very minor compared to the disastrous freeze of ten 
years ago. The present freeze lasted only 3 or days in the Opelousas-- 
Baton Rouge area, and enough patches of open water remained to enable snipe 
to do some feeding. Furthermore, the dry fall and early winter had already 
driven most of the snipe into the coastal marshes (or farther south), where 
the freezing rain did not occur. During and immediately after the ice storm 
the writer accompanied Professor Leslie Glasgow on woodcock banding trips in 
the area near the southern limit of the continuous freeze. Only a small 
proportion of the woodcock (trapped by jack light and net) showed ™ appre- 
ciable loss of weight, and the only snipe captured was in good flesh. Two 
or three dozen Killdeer also were handled, and only one of these was serious~ 
ly underweight. Interviews with trappers in the Mississippi Delta area re- 
Vealed that there had been no appreciable influx of snipe in that section 
during or just after the ice storm. | 
Data from Christmas Season Counts.--The Christmas bird counts publish- 
ed in Audubon Field Notes can be counted upon to supply supplementary data 
for a snipe inventory, but are not adequate in themselves since too few 
counts are taken in the areas of greatest concentration. Counts from 70 
snipe-reporting areas that have been covered each of the past four years 
give the following numbers of snipe per 100 party-hours 18.1 in 197; 
15.2 in 1948; 15.4 in 1949; md 16.0 in 1950. 
49 
