to a nocturnal flight. Sometimes, a bird will fly around erratically 
high over-head and not winnow at all. 
When individual snipe were encountered, experiments were conducted 
under various conditions to determine the range of the sound. In most 
cases, under ideal conditions, the sound did not appear to carry even 
a half-mile in valleys and over rough terrain, In open terrain, it 
sanetimes carried for more than a mile. It is considered that each 
locality may vary somewhat in the carrying capacity of the sound, due 
particularly to the acoustic properties of the surrounding terrain, 
and that atmospheric conditions may also affect this range. 
The altitude at which performances take place varies but averages, 
I believe, around 300 feet on a clear night. The altitude of the per- 
forming individuals at any given moment may also be a factor to be 
considered in estimating the range of audibility,. 
Territory.--At Bay Bulls there appeared to be one pair of snipe 
to 10 acres of the area examined. Excluding unsuitable territory at 
Tomkin's, snipe appeared to be distributed at one pair to six acres. 
Five snipe were flushed at Salmonier from an area approximately three 
acres in extent. The performing territory of a snipe will include, if 
necessary, portions of the surrounding area which would not be suitable 
for feeding or nesting. <A snipe will perform over a lake or over a 
heavily wooded area if those areas are on the fringe of its territory. 
A snipe flies just as erratically when engaged in winnowing as it 
does when flushed, Yet, this apparently zig-zag aimless flight when 
winnowing appears to take place within definite boundaries which are 
more or less in the form of an elliptical spheroid. 
Within this figure it appears to range back and forth appearing 
to be held within its boundaries most particularly when other individuals 
are performing nearby. The winnowing area is largest if a single snipe 
is performing although others are present in the area. When three or 
four individuals are performing in a comparatively small area a great 
deal of overlapping occurs, but this appears to occur only on the 
fringes of the territories. 
Winnowing periods,.--On clear moonlight nights, snipe may winnow 
contimously all through the night, On such nights, the most prolonged 
period when the maximum numbers are performing may be during the middle 
of the night. Normally, however, there are two distinct periods; one 
during the twilight hours of the evening, and the other during the 
twilight hours of the morning. These, which may be called the post- 
sunset and the pre-dawn periods, will be examined more carefully. 
From an examination of 19 post-sunset periods there appears to be 
no hard and fast rule for their commencement. They may (according to 
the amount of sunshine during the day or the atmospheric conditions at 
the time) commence anywhere from one minute to 5 minutes after amset. 
43 
