In Brittany, some years ago, Woodcocks were so common that the inhabitants were in the habit of catching them with nets in the following singular way:--Two men went out together at night, one carrying a lantern, the other a small net fastened at the end of a long stick. They proceeded to those parts of the woods where deer had been grazing, which places are always favourite haunts of the Woodcocks on account of their finding worms and insects among their droppings. The rays of light from the lantern were suddenly thrown on the birds while feeding; the latter, dazzled with the brilliancy, allowed themselves to be entangled in the meshes of the net before they thought of flight. A similar method to the above is practised by the negroes on the Southern plantations of the United States, with this difference--instead of a net, only a club is used for their destruction. Often the slaughter of a successful night amounts to hundreds. The American Woodcock is scarcely as large as the European bird, nor is their colour the same. The Woodcock constitutes a delicious article of food from its exquisite flavour and piquancy: it in consequence holds the highest rank among game in the eyes of the epicure. The SNIPE much resembles the Woodcock, but is smaller, with longer tarsi. It is also different in its habits. It haunts marshes and fens, feeding on grubs, and sometimes even on aquatic plants. It travels during the night as well as in the day, generally preferring stormy, damp weather for performing its migrations. The Snipe is found in all latitudes in every part of the globe. Some remain the year round in France and Ireland. They make their nests among reeds in muddy, boggy places, difficult of access to both man and beast, in which they lay four or five eggs. The young ones leave the nest as soon as they are hatched, and are fed by their parents for some time, the want of solidity in their bills not permitting them to bore for their own food. [Illustration: Fig. 132.--1. Jack Snipe. 2. Common Snipe (_Scolopax gallinula_, _Scolopax gallinago_, Linn.).] The Snipe does not live so solitary a life as the Woodcock; it is occasionally seen in wisps or flocks. When flushed they utter a shrill cry, which is easily recognised. They visit us in autumn, coming from the marshes of Poland and Hungary, whither they return again in the spring. The most common species are the Common Snipe (_Scolopax gallinago_, Fig. 132, 2), the Great Snipe (_S. major_), the Jack Snipe (_S. gallinula_, Fig. 132, 1), Sabine Snipe (_S. Sabini_), and the American variety (_S. Wilsonii_).