properly called "English snipe," is one of our most popular game birds.
Probably more snipe have been killed by sportsmen than any other game
bird. It ranks ahead of all other shore birds and upland game birds
except, possibly, the woodcock, ruffed grouse, and quail. When the
startling cry of the snipe arouses the sportsman to instant action he
realizes that he is up against a real gamey proposition. He must be a
good shot indeed to make a creditable score against such quick erratic
flyers. A tramp over the open meadows, brown, red, and golden in their
autumn livery, with one or two good dogs quartering the ground in plain
sight and with an occasional shot at a swiftly flying bird, is one of
the delights of a crisp autumn day. The birds will lie closely on a calm
day, but on a windy, blustering day they are restless and wild. It is
well to hunt down wind as the birds usually rise against the wind and
will fly towards and then quartering away from the shooter. When two men
hunt along a narrow marsh, the man on the windward side will get most of
the shooting. Snipe are usually shot on wet meadows or marshes, but that
they are often found in other places is shown by the following
quotations from Dwight W. Huntington (1903):
Audubon says the snipe is never found in the woods, but Forester
mentions finding it in wild, windy weather early in the season in
the skirts of moist woodlands under sheltered lee sides of young
plantations, among willow, alder, and brier brakes, and, in short,
wherever there is good, soft, springy feeding ground perfectly
sheltered and protected from the wind by trees and shrubbery.
Abbott says: "During the autumn I have found them along neglected
meadow ditches overhung by large willow trees, and again hidden in
the reeds along the banks of creeks. I have shot them repeatedly
in wet woodland meadows. I have often found snipe in bushy tracts
and among the swamp willows, but I have never seen them in the
forest, and believe they so rarely resort to the woods that it
would not be worth while to seek them there."
Snipe must have been exceedingly abundant 50 or 60 years ago, as the
oft-quoted achievements of James J. Pringle (1899) will illustrate. He
was not a market hunter but a gentleman (?) sportsman, who shot for the
fun of it and gave the birds away to his friends. His excuses for
excessive slaughter and his apologies for not killing more are
interesting; he writes:
The birds being such great migrants, and only in the country for a
short time, I had no mercy on them and killed all I could, for a
snipe once missed might never be seen again.
I shot with only one gun at a time; had no loader, but loaded my
gun myself; had I shot with two guns and had a loader I would, of
course, have killed a great many more birds, but in those days and
in those parts it was impossible to get a man that could be
trusted to load.
During the 20 years from 1867 to 1887 he shot, on his favorite hunting
grounds in Louisiana, 69,087 snipe and a total of 71,859 of all game
birds; but his shooting fell off during the next 10 years for he
increased his grand total of snipe to only 78,602 and of all game birds
to only 82,101! His best day, undoubtedly a world's record, was December
11, 1877, when he shot in six hours 366 snipe and 8 other birds. On his
best seven consecutive shooting days, alternate days in December, 1877,
he killed 1,943 snipe and 25 other birds. During the winter of 1874-75
he killed 6,615 snipe. Captain Bogardus, the famous trap shot, killed,
with the help of a friend, 340 snipe on one day in Illinois, and seldom
got less than 150 on good days. With such excessive shooting all through
the fall, winter, and spring, is it to be wondered at that the snipe
have decreased in numbers?
_Winter._--As mentioned above snipe spend the winters in small numbers
as far north as they can find unfrozen marshes and spring holes, but
their main winter resorts are in the Southern States, the West Indies,
and northern South America. They were formerly enormously abundant in
the marshes and savannas of Florida and the other Gulf States, where
they are still common in winter. C. J. Pennock tells me that they are
still abundant all winter about St. Marks, Florida, his earliest and
latest dates being September 12 and May 10. Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says
that, in South Carolina, the snipe "are most abundant during the months
of February and March, and at that time multitudes frequent the rice
plantations, provided the water is not too deep over the land." J. H.
Bowles (1918) says that in Washington "cold weather does not seem to
bother them much. On January 1, 1916, when all fresh-water marshes were
frozen over, large numbers of them gathered on the Tacoma Flats." Mr.
Skinner writes to me that in Yellowstone Park they are found in winter
along creeks and rivers kept open by warm springs and on ground
overflowed by warm water from the hot springs.
Aiken and Warren (1914) tell of the winter habits of the Wilson snipe,
in El Paso County, Colorado, as follows:
Fountain Creek rarely freezes over entirely below its exit from the
mountains, and along its banks there are many places where water
that runs through the sand comes to the surface and forms springy
holes and marshy meadows which are warmer than surface water. These
become the winter feeding grounds for the snipe and one or a pair
often content themselves with a very small area of muck. But at
times of severe cold many of the smaller holes freeze and then the
snipe concentrate at places where a larger flow of water keeps the
holes open. On January 15, 1908, with 6 inches of snow on the
ground and below zero weather Aiken visited a small beaver pond on
the Skinner ranch 6 miles south of Colorado Springs. A bit of marsh
above the pond and a short stretch of ooze along the outlet below
remained open, and in this small area of one-fourth of an acre were
25 to 30 snipe. Some years ago a snipe was found running upon the
ice when everything in the vicinity was frozen solid. A few snipe
winter along banks of streams in the mountains.
That snipe know enough to protect themselves from storms may be
illustrated by narrating here one of Aiken's experiences in Utah
about 20 years ago. He was beating a snipe marsh near one edge of
which extended a narrow arroyo or gully in which were some trees
and bushes. The weather had been fair until without warning a
heavy snow storm set in. At once snipe began to rise wildly from
different parts of the marsh and one after another directed their
flight toward the same point in the arroyo and dove between its
banks. Upon investigation 8 or 10 snipe were found together in a
little cave in the side of the arroyo that was partly hidden by
bushes so that they were well protected from any storm. We
conclude this was not the first time the snipe had resorted to
this friendly shelter since they knew so well where to go.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North America, Central America, the West Indies, and northern
South America. Accidental in the Hawaiian Islands.
_Breeding range._--North to Alaska (Shumagin Islands, Bethel, St.
Michael, Nome, Kowak River, Cape Smith, and Fort Yukon); Mackenzie (La
Pierre House, Fort Anderson, Dease River, and Fort Smith); northeastern
Manitoba (Fort Churchill); northern Ontario (Cape Henrietta Maria);
Ungava (Fort George and Great Whale River); Labrador (Nain); and
Newfoundland (Halls Bay, Grand Lake, and St. Johns). East to Labrador
(Nain); Newfoundland (St. Johns); eastern Quebec (Magdalen Islands);
Nova Scotia (Baddeck and Halifax); Maine (Calais and Waldo County);
Massachusetts (Salem and Brookline); Connecticut (Portland); New York
(Croton Falls); New Jersey (Newfoundland, Norristown, Trenton); and
southeastern Pennsylvania (Mill Grove). South to southeastern
Pennsylvania (Mill Grove); northwestern Pennsylvania (Meadville);
northern Ohio (Fremont); northern Indiana (Miami, English Lake, and
Cedar Lake); northern Illinois (Hinsdale and Winnebago); Iowa (Sabula,
Grinnell, and Boone); Colorado (Estes Park, Barr, San Luis Lake, and
Silverton); Utah (Parleys Park and Fairfield); southwestern Idaho
(Nampa); and northern California (Sierra Valley and Shasta Valley). West
to northern California (Shasta Valley); Oregon (Fort Klamath, Corvallis,
and Salem); Washington (Yakima and Olympia); British Columbia
(Chilliwack, Vancouver, and Metlakatla); and Alaska (Sitka, Kodiak,
Nushagak, and Shumagin Islands).
Wilson's snipe also have been detected in summer north to Chimo, Ungava,
Hopedale, Labrador, and Sandwich Bay, Quebec, and have been found
lingering (probably non-breeders) south to Chloride, New Mexico, and
Corpus Christi and San Angelo, Texas, while there is one breeding record
for northern Los Angeles County, California (Mailliard, 1914).
_Winter range._--The Wilson snipe winters regularly north to Washington
(Tacoma); British Columbia (Chilliwack and Okanagan Landing); Wyoming
(Yellowstone Park); Colorado (El Paso County); southern Arizona (Tucson
and Fort Huachuca); southern New Mexico (Rio Mimbres); Texas (Austin,
Kerrville, and Bonham); Oklahoma (Caddo); Arkansas (Fayetteville and
Stuttgart); Alabama (Coosada and Montgomery County); central North
Carolina (Raleigh); and southeastern Virginia (Virginia Beach); eastern
North Carolina (Pea Islands); Bermuda; South Carolina (Charleston);
Georgia (Savannah and Blackbeard Island); Florida (Canaveral, Orlando,
Kissimmee, and Royal Palm Hammock); Bahama Islands (New Providence,
Watling Islands, and Great Inagua); Porto Rico (Guanica Lagoon); and the
Lesser Antilles (Antigua, St. Vincent, Barbados, Grenada, and Trinidad).
South to the Lesser Antilles (Trinidad); northern Venezuela (Caracas);
Brazil (Rio de Janeiro); Colombia (Medellin and Puerto Berrio); and
Panama (Frijole and Chitra). West to Panama (Chitra and the Canal Zone);
Costa Rica (San Jose); Nicaragua (Greytown and the Escondido River);
Honduras (Comayagua and Manatee Lagoon); Guatemala (Duenas and Atitlan);
Mexico (Guanajuato, Escuinapa, Mazatlan, San Jose del Cabo, and Colonia
Diaz); California (Salton Sea, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and
Eureka); and Washington (Tacoma).
It also has been known to winter (where warm springs or other factors
assure open water) north to Nevada (Paradise), Utah (Provo), Montana
(Terry, Helena, and near Bozeman), Wyoming (Como and Cody), Colorado
(Fountain Creek, Sweetwater Lake, Clear Creek near Denver, and near
Julesburg), Nebraska (Holt, Sioux, Dawes, and Cherry Counties, and along
the Missouri River), North Dakota (Fort Yates), Iowa (Hancock County),
Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Michigan (Grand Rapids), southern Ontario
(Barrie), Ohio (Granville), New York (Oneida, Onondaga Lake,
Poughkeepsie, Ithaca, New York City, and Long Island), Connecticut
(Portland and New Haven), Massachusetts (Jamaica Plain, near Boston,
Peabody, Hancock, and Cape Cod), and Nova Scotia (Wolfville). It has
been detected in Alaska at Wrangell, on November 11, 1920, and at Craig,
on December 7, 1919.
_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival in the spring are: District
of Columbia, Washington, February 17; Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, March
7, Harrisburg, March 11, Carlisle, March 18, Berwyn, March 21, and
Meadville, March 22; New Jersey, Fort Mott, March 16, and Pennsville,
March 20; New York, Syracuse, February 26, Branchport, March 5, Orient
Point, March 12, Buffalo, March 13, Brockport, March 18, Lansing, March
29, Oswego, April 1, and Ithaca, April 3; Connecticut, Portland, March
18, and New Haven, March 19; Massachusetts, Lynn, March 2, Newburyport,
March 8, Boston, March 19, Somerset, March 21, and Salem, March 21;
Vermont, Rutland, April 2; Maine, Farmington, April 6, and Lewiston,
April 8; Quebec, Quebec, April 18, Montreal, April 19, and Godbout, May
5; New Brunswick, Scotch Lake, April 5, Petitcodiac, April 27, and
Chatham, April 28; Nova Scotia, Halifax, April 5, Pictou, April 11, and
Kentville, April 19; Kentucky, Bowling Green, February 24, Guthrie,
February 25, and Russellville, February 26; Missouri, St. Louis,
February 17, Old Orchard, February 20, Chillicothe, March 2, Jonesburg,
March 11, and Kansas City, March 14; Illinois, Lebanon, February 11,
Odin, March 6, Addison, March 10, Carlinville, March 11, Englewood,
March 15, Morgan Park, March 17, Rockford, March 19, and Wheaton, March
26; Indiana, Bicknell, February 13, Greensburg, February 28, Frankfort,
March 4, Greencastle, March 5, Bloomington, March 6, Brookville, March
7, Terre Haute, March 9, Vincennes, March 11, and Waterloo, March 12;
Ohio, Granville, March 3, Cleveland, March 4, Columbus, March 8, Hudson,
March 11, Sandusky, March 13, Oberlin, March 15, and New Bremen, March
18; Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 6, Vicksburg, March 18, Hillsdale, March
21, Kalamazoo, March 22, Battle Creek, March 24, Manchester, March 25,
and Detroit, March 28; Ontario, Dunnville, March 24, Madoc, March 29,
Queensboro, March 30, and Listowel, April 1; Iowa, Sabula, March 15,
Boone, March 17, Grinnell, March 18, Keokuk, March 18, Coralville, March
19, Wall Lake, March 22, Cedar Rapids, March 23, and Sioux City, March
28; Wisconsin. Hillside, March 16, Madison, March 18, Elkhorn, March 19,
Waukesha, March 20, Delavan, March 23, and Racine, March 24; Minnesota,
Hutchinson, March 30, Minneapolis, March 29, Heron Lake, April 1, and
Elk River, April 2; Oklahoma, Copan, March 8; Kansas, Emporia, March 14,
Independence, March 19, and Wichita, March 19; Nebraska, Falls City,
March 15, and Badger, March 25; South Dakota, Forestburg, March 12,
Huron, March 15, and Sioux Falls, March 15; North Dakota, Fargo, April
15, Larimore, April 16, Lisbon, April 18, and Grafton, April 19;
Manitoba, Greenridge, April 2, Dalton, April 8, Reaburn, April 9,
Margaret, April 10, Aweme, April 14, and Shell River, April 16;
Saskatchewan, Qu'Appelle, April 9, and Indian Head, April 20; Colorado,
Denver, March 10, Boulder, March 19, and Sweetwater Lake, March 26;
Wyoming, Yellowstone Park, March 16; Idaho, Neeley, March 24, Meridian,
April 9, and Payette Lake, April 17; Montana, Missoula, March 4, Helena,
March 12, and Columbia Falls, March 27; Alberta, Onoway, April 13,
Carvel, April 15, and Edmonton, April 21; and Mackenzie, Fort
Providence, May 2, and Fort Simpson, May 10.
Late dates of departure in the spring are: Costa Rica, February 16;
Haiti, April 13; Florida, Tallahassee, April 10, Fruitland Park, April
10, Gainesville, April 15, and St. Marks, May 10; Georgia, Cumberland,
April 14, and Savannah, April 15; South Carolina, Columbia, April 19,
and Charleston, May 1; Chihuahua, Lake Palomas, April 8; Lower
California, Colnett, April 8, and Salton River, April 19; and Texas,
Kerrville, April 11, Bonham, April 30, and Austin, April 30.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Texas,
Tivoli, August 19; Lower California, San Jose del Cabo, August 28;
Chihuahua, Janos River, September 5, and Chuechupa, September 19;
Sonora, August 19; South Carolina, Frogmore, September 10; Georgia,
Savannah, September 15; Florida, St. Marks, September 12; Lesser
Antilles, St. Croix, September 24, and Barbadoes, October 11; Porto
Rico, Guanica Lagoon, September 29; Costa Rica, October 9; and Panama,
Canal Zone, October 7.
Late dates of departure in the fall are: Montana, Big Sandy, October 24,
and Missoula, December 5; Idaho, Meridian, November 21, and Ketchum,
December 20; Wyoming, Sundance, November 25, and Yellowstone Park,
December 9; Utah, Provo, November 25; Colorado, Greeley, November 3, and
Boulder, December 24; Manitoba, Killarney, October 24, Aweme, November
5, and Margaret, November 10; North Dakota, Chase Lake, October 21,
Westhope, November 3, and Marstonmoor, November 3; South Dakota,
Harrison, October 24, and Sioux Falls, November 22; Nebraska, Falls
City, November 20, Crawford, December 7, and Broken Bow, December 12;
Kansas, Independence, December 13; Minnesota, Elk River, November 1,
Jackson, November 6, Parkers Prairie, November 7, Fort Snelling,
November 13, and Heron Lake, November 14; Wisconsin, Unity, November 3,
Madison, November 6, Elkhorn, November 8, Shiocton, November 13, North
Freedom, November 14, and Milwaukee, November 15; Iowa, Davenport,
November 2, Grinnell, November 4, Hillsboro, November 11, Indianola,
November 15, Marshalltown, November 18, Wall Lake, November 28, and
Keokuk, November 28; Ontario, Toronto, October 29, Longpoint, November
2, Windsor, November 9, Kingston, November 12, Ottawa, November 17, and
Point Pelee, November 21; Michigan, Hillsdale, November 3, Ann Arbor,
November 5, Manistee, November 7, Manchester, November 12, Detroit,
November 15, and Vicksburg, December 30; Ohio, Scio, November 6, Salem,
November 16, Oberlin, November 22, Youngstown, November 21, Sandusky,
December 2, and Cleveland, December 29; Indiana, Bloomington, October
24, Bicknell, November 9, and Lyons, November 25; Illinois, Glen Ellyn,
November 4, Canton, November 8, Fernwood, November 13, Lawrenceville,
November 15, Elgin, November 17, and La Grange, November 23; Missouri,
St. Louis, November 21, and St. Charles County, December 14; Nova
Scotia, Pictou, October 24, and Halifax, December 3; New Brunswick,
Scotch Lake, October 20, and St. John, November 5; Quebec, Quebec,
November 5, and Montreal, November 13; Maine, Lewiston, November 5,
Ellsworth, November 8, and Portland, November 15; Massachusetts, East
Templeton, November 23, Salem, November 25, Lynn, December 20, and
Belchertown, December 20; Rhode Island, Newport, December 3;
Connecticut, New Haven, December 1, Portland, December 7, and Lakeville,
December 28; New York, Geneva, November 3, West Winfield, November 13,
Fair Haven Light, November 17, Branchport, November 24, Shelter Island,
November 29, Madison County, December 10, and Orient Point, December
20; New Jersey, Bloomfield, November 1, Camden, November 7, Egg Island,
November 8, and Pennsville, December 1; Pennsylvania, Berwyn, November
1, and Erie, November 21; and District of Columbia, Washington, December
22.
_Casual records._--A Wilson's snipe was killed at Naaleho Plantation,
Kau, Hawaiian Islands, several years prior to 1900 and a second was
reported as seen in the same locality in the fall of the same year
(Henshaw, 1902). It also has been reported as taken in Great Britain,
but the record is too doubtful to warrant serious consideration.
_Egg dates._--Magdalen Islands: 36 records, June 1 to 27; 18 records,
June 3 to 14. Alberta: 39 records, May 16 to July; 20 records, May 28 to
June 10. Utah: 48 records, May 8 to July 24; 24 records, May 12 to June
2.
CAPELLA MEDIA (Latham)
GREAT SNIPE
_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_
HABITS
The claim of this species to a place on the American list rests on a
specimen obtained from the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada many years ago
and now in the collection of the British Museum. Its breeding home is in
Northern Europe and Asia, but on migration and during the winter months
it has been met with in the British Isles, throughout southern Europe
and Africa south to the Cape Province, as well as southern Asia from
India westward. Unlike the common snipe, it frequently occurs singly and
is by no means confined to marshy spots, but may be met with on rough
pastures, moorlands, and fields. To this characteristic it owes its name
of "solitary snipe."
_Spring._--On the northward migration it is of very rare occurrence in
the British Isles, and has only been recorded on a few occasions in
Morocco, but of regular occurrence in south Spain; but is not uncommon
on passage in Malta in April and May and occurs in small numbers in
Italy in April and May and in Corfu and Epirus in March, also migrating
in greater numbers along the west coast of the Black Sea. Probably the
majority of the birds which visit South Africa make their way northward
along the east side of the Continent. The northerly movement begins in
Natal in January or February, so that it extends over a period of four
or five months.
_Courtship._--Observations on the courtship of this species are not
numerous, for it is nocturnal in its habits and, except during the
mating season, decidedly unsociable. In western Europe there has been a
great diminution of the breeding stock of late years. Jutland, which was
at one time a well-known breeding place, has long been entirely
deserted, and it is necessary to visit the morasses of Scandinavia and
Esthonia or Finland and Russia before one can make the acquaintance of
this species in any numbers on its nesting ground. Unlike the common and
jack snipe, there are no aerial evolutions to call attention to the
display, but the whole is conducted on the ground between sunset and
sunrise; and as the notes of the birds are not loud, it may well be
imagined that it may readily be overlooked. The number of birds which
attend at the "Spil," as it is called in Norway, or "Tok" (Russian),
varies from eight to a dozen pairs to twenty or more in districts where
the birds are comparatively common. Here late in May the males may be
heard uttering low warbling notes, producing also sounds which have been
compared to those made by running the nail along the teeth of a comb,
and snapping their bills together, evidently in defiance. The display
consists in expanding the tail like a fan and turning it over toward the
back, the white outer feathers standing out conspicuously, with drooping
wings and depressed and retracted head. In this attitude they perform a
kind of dance, slowly at first, but becoming more and more rapid, and
generally culminating in a series of fights between the rivals.
R. Collett, who furnished a long and detailed description of the
procedure at one of these "leks" to Dresser (1871), is of opinion that
the fighting is not of a serious character and consists chiefly of
feeble slashes with the wings, but the Russian naturalist Alphéraky, a
translation of whose interesting paper on the subject appeared in the
Field for 1906 (p. 1075) with an illustration of the display, describes
the ground as often strewn with feathers after these encounters. In the
more northern latitudes there is of course little darkness, but there is
a consensus of opinion that the display dies down about midnight and
commences again as it becomes lighter. Alphéraky ascribes this to the
arrival of the females on the scene. Clear and bright nights are most
favorable for this performance, which seems to have some points of
resemblance to that of the ruff and some to that of the black grouse
(_Lyrurus tetrix_), but a series of observations are required before we
can reconcile the discrepancies and fill up the gaps in the
descriptions. According to Collett there is a period in the display when
the bird is in a kind of ecstasy and produces a series of varied notes
beginning with a whistle or two, followed by a snapping noise with five
or six notes in rapid succession, then a hissing sound, followed by a
rolling _sbirrrr_, which becomes deeper as uttered. A number of birds
displaying at the same time produces a low continuous chorus of varied
sounds. This is the more remarkable as the great snipe is at other
seasons a particularly silent bird, and indeed is rarely heard to utter
a sound of any kind, usually rising in silence.