readily In- forgotten. Oil the 01b of Dooemlier. 1800, a stretch iff marshes, known as " Bnmhoru Ponds,"
extending well inland between HIP cultivated grounds, was perfectly alive with Sni|ie. Though twenty
or thirty birds would rise at a time, they flew for the most part singly; in no instance did 1 notice
more ihau throe or four keeping in company. But few shots had been bed, when from three to four
hundred must have been on wing at once, soaring high in the air and, after n time, settling in the more
remote patches of rushes. Having lieoa in pursuit of Wild Geese, I was by no moans prepared for Snipeslanghlcr,
my weapon being a ton-bore muzzle-loader, and wire cartridges forming the greater part of
the ammunition. Karly in March IBM the weather was excessively cold and wintry. On arriving one
morning at Pcvensey, I harned from a keeper who met mo at the station that while crossing the marshes
in the dark be had board Snipe calling in all direction*. During the early part of the day we searched
the slades in the neighbour hood of the coast, finding few birds and baggiug but six couple; it was not
till Ihc afternoon, on arriving at " Barnhorn 1'onds," that the Snipe were discovered, the scene Wing
precisely similar to that previously described. On this occasion I was well provided with nil necessaries,
though an unlucky mishap considerably interfered with Ihe prospects of the bag. Before entering the
first marsh in "the ponds," Snipe commenced to rise from the rushes, and three fell to the first double,
a bird in the act of crossing the line of the second barrel being knocked down at about sixty yards. On
attempting to make my way across the wooden footway over the dyke the plank slipped round, and though
escaping a ducking, thanks lo a pair of long boots, both barrels of my breech-loader were stopped up with
mud. While sorting out a pocketful of cartridges partially soaked by the splash of the water, the man, who
carried a muzzle-loader, turned his attention to clearing my barrels with his ramrod. Using, unfortunately,
more strength than skill, the rod snapped, and another delay occurred while the nearest hedgerow was
searched in order to procure a suitable ash-plant. During the whole of the time we were engaged with
the gun Snipe continued rising and settling in every dircctiunas far as the rnsb-marshes extended, many
flying round and offering most tempting chances. On resuming operations the birds, after lying well for
a time, grow by degrees more wary, many extending their flight to disiant parts of the level. After working
hard while daylight lasted, twenty-five and a half couple of Snipe were counted out at dusk; there were,
however, among them throe couple of Jacks. On the following day I discovered, to my gnat regret, that
the flight had moved on, leaving behind scarcely a straggler, a long tramp producing only eight couple,
Jacks and full birds equally divided.
A week bter, while shooting round the "crumbles" (a piece of swampy marshland near Eastbourne),
I found several Snipe on the shingle-banks. The birds wore scattered here and there, rising for the most
part front below the stunted thorn bushes that grow in patches on the open beach where the gravel is
tine and small. A few low tufts of grass and moss were the sole signs of vegetation, with the exception
of the hushes, on this wide expanse of shingle; still the spot evidently possessed some unknown attraction
for the birds
Occasionally Snipe collect into large flocks, flying in compact bodies and wheeling in the air after
the manner of Golden Plovers, Dunlin, and other small Waders. A flight consisting of three or four
hundred were to lie seen in the vicinity of one of the broads in the east of Norfolk during the latter end of
September 1879. I had many opportunities of watching their actions, the birds appearing exceedingly
restlcss, settling now and then for a few minutes, but seldom remaining for a sufficient length of lime on
one spot to allow an approach within gunshot. 1 often remarked that these large bodies exhibited a
great fancy for the "floating hovers"', where they would settle at times in such numbers that many
* On many part* of the hrondt in the rut of M l the Luge water-planta ocraaionally die off in patches, the routs after a lime rising up
lo the surface wilh a portion of the soil The stub* of the I - frail i ,]:;,• rut «»«J, and the masses of B M formed 1,J the decaying stem!
were forced to alight on the small patches of surrounding reeds. A punt carefully worked is the only
means of approaching one of these large Hooks marked down on a hover: though repeatedly ohlaining
a view through the rushes of wi-ps numbering from twenty to thirty resting on these spots, I met wilh
but one chance of examining a large flock quietly settled. A light breeze was blowing, and the rustle of
the reeda prevented the sound of the punt slowly quanted through the eover from raising an alarm;
some suspicion of danger had, however, apparently put the whole of lite birds on the alert *. A few
Suipes at the outskirts of the throng could he detected standing or moving slowly near the water's edge,
though the main body were packed so thickly, squatting on the hover, that the rich brown colouring of
their hacks appeared like a fur rug stretched over the ground. An attempt to make use of the glasses
attracted the attention of some of the outsiders, and rising on wing wilh shrill calls the assemblage broke
up. Though alighting in company, these large bodies when disturbed usually go off in small parties, each
following ils own course. On this occasion, after the departure of the firs! flights the punt was worked
up to the hover, when several more birds were flushed: for some minutes the shooting was fast and furious
as the latest stragglers sprang one or two at a time from the outlying dumps of rushes. This is the
only inslanoe where I found the birds composing one of those large gatherings so confiding, though it is
frequently a matter of some difficulty to put up small parties when scattered over the mon' rush-grown
portion of the ground. Owing to the amount of mud and dirt brought into the boats, I seldom used a
dog on such spots. The full birds can generally be flushed by splashing the water with a stroke of the
quant; Jacks, however, occasionally drop on the hovers, and are by no means easily forced on wing.
Having learned by experience that the attempt fo shoot across one of these floating hovers on foot was
not unfrequently followed by a drenching in the highly odoriferous swamp, i have latterly taken up a
posilinn in the punt where the sight was uninterrupted by high reeds, and despatched a man to brush the
cover with a quant. The safety and rapidity with which a native will make his way across the Waring
crust, avoiding dangerous spots and marking as well as r ivoriug any number of birds knocked down,
would scarcely be credited by those who have never witnessed the proceedings. A few shots may ho lost
by this plan; but a somewhat lighter hag is decidedly preferable, in my own opinion, to ihe ehauce of
getting one's hoots filled and garments saturated with the slime and filth of the decomposing vogetafion.
When the fides are high, very fair Snipe-shooting may he ublaiued from a punt about the hovers
and marsh walls on many of the Norfolk broads. The birds seldom rise wild and, owing to the absence
of all in couve nie ace as to standing-ground, usually present exceedingly easy shots. A wcll-buill and roomy
craft, however, is needed, and a man well up fo bis work, otherwise little success can be expected.
In addition to the well-known *' scape " uttered on wing, the Snipe gives vent during the breeding-season
to another call consisting of two notes. This somewhat monotonous cry is often repeated loudly lor
several seconds, the bird at the time being invisible among the rushes ou a marsh. Pages without number
have been written on the drumming of the Snipe and little remains to lie added concerning this Strangely
deceptive performance. I have passed hours in watching the birds during the still evenings of early
summer while soaring and darling through the air, and it appears obvious that the tremulous sound is
produced by ihe feathers of the wings or tail. The names of " Air-Goat" and " Ileather-hleater" bestowed
on this species in the Highlands indicate Ihe notion formed by the natives concerning the sound emitted
by the bird. The Norfolk title of " Summer Iamb " is also by no means inappropriate.
In spite of the almost universal reclaiming of meres, bogs, nnd waste lands, there are still many outof
the-way districts in which fair Snipe-shooting can at times be obtained where the ground is either free
or permission is readily procured. As the birds found in such quarters are principally, if not entirely,
• 1 freom-ntly remarked (Ms Hatching Snipe aearcbing for food on a bog a* by tin sraler-side that on the first sign. <.f dinger Iho bird