This fast, which baffle their flight the inexperienced and hot shooters the bird is very difficult to describe. Of course, the first thing that catches the eye, is disproportionately low the nose is longer than a couple of inches, the tip of which a little replusor and the two halves (the old) covered with small scars.
Disproportionately large and the legs pale greenish color. The upper part of the snipe (the back of the head, neck and back) Ryaben’kii, covered with small black poroshkami with light yellow stripes, the tail is composed of black feathers with yellow tips and a light gray border. On the head are four brown, with speckles, stripes, two of which are more in the middle, and the two lateral terminating at the eyes, the shorter one. The abdomen snipe white. He is always on bent legs and hunched over.
Snipe arrive to us very early, usually in mid-April, when it is not everywhere the snow melts, and the ice, though still not have time to go through, but still some small rivers sink, and on forest cockeny swamps with warm keys are formed from a flock of snow rubs. Only in very early spring, as, for example, in 1876, noticed the appearance of a snipe at the end of March. So, this year, the first snipe I saw on March 31.
Us snipe fly not singly, but in small flocks, pieces of eight or nine, no more, and rush is very high, making large circles and constantly peremennaya direction before deciding to get on the ground. With the arrival of snipe appear primarily at the forest thawed bogs, banks of springs thawed, the water-edges of wetlands, even on arable lands — in short, wherever there is a wet melt and the earth. Some frost again will put ice water skull and hollows, and then snipe, forgetting his extreme wildness, and rushes even to the mill dams and was digging his long nose into the warm horse manure.
At the end of June the old snipe in the lining are removed for moult, but the feather they have not, as ducks, moved gradually, one by one, and in July or early August, when poobshatsa swamps, smateria youth and molted the elderly located in their usual places. From that time begins for them the most profitable, most fun hunting with pointer.
Snipe choose a wet swamps with low hummocks, with grassey reavsey and where it’s convenient for them to dig, getting their worms, components with the roots of different plants, their main food.
Only occasionally, the chance to find at this time of the snipe on the “smile” of a lake; but here he is neither hunter nor his dog will not wait. Another thing in his wetland, which stretches along the shore of the Vyatka river, often on both sides. Here, spread-eagled in Grasse, snipe, especially not frightened, let the dog closely and can withstand a long stand. But heard “fetch!”, throws it to the dog, and the snipe jumps up screaming, usually to the side, instantly making two or three staggers, and in a few moments, look — he’s already out of the shot. Then, flying forty-seven feet, and a lot of and fifty, it folds its wings and drops to the ground.
The later autumn, the better and stronger to withstand the snipe stand straighter and his flight, but moving, and he runs on. But in the summer, in July or early August, not every snipe admits to himself near the dog and jumps up from it twenty or thirty steps.
I say, Plovers ‘ places near Vyatka very much, but the best are, in addition to Meanders and Lamina, designated under Nikolskaya factory, Lapusnik, Pagina, on the river Flat, Black lake and features Gruzinskie clearings, one of which is in the village itself. Up the river, Pond, Halounova, I say, Plovers ‘ also a lot of places. Issued good hunting snipe from the mill ponds, especially when they are down and exposed hummocks, covered with mud and twisted roots of different herbs and water.
Gallinago in autumn fly away from us gradually in September, and rarely is delayed until half of October. Late snipe is extremely fatty, flying quietly, but likes to live in swamps, overgrown with bushes, large bumps, and sometimes the dog runs and takes her so that you have to wonder if she’s looking for the hen. Call off the dog, and the snipe is right.
Snipe eats the roots of marsh grasses and insects, especially the earthworm. Often it is necessary to kill a bird with a worm neprehlednym.
For shooting snipe from under the dog is the best fraction No. 10, but in the spring with success it is possible to use No. 9 or even No. 8. I meant to say should not be, and that because sometimes we, Vyatka hunters have to use snipe on No. 6 and even No. 5. It happens especially often when ships are late with the Nizhny Novgorod trade fair goods and stocks of small shot from the merchants runs out.
The shot we used for the advantage of Yaroslavl, and Kazan a part of. A fraction of this to the extreme road that comes to 16 cents per pound, and in the same measure it is bad. In the Vyatka freestyle sale gunpowder (with departmental approval) no, the nearest private warehouse is located in suburban district Mr. Plyusnina. The Kazan gunpowder he keeps and sells in the 85-90 kopecks per pound. For all this the city has many trade gunpowder secretly selling Kazan by 1 p. and 1 p. 20 COP., Okhta 1 R. 30 kop. and 1 p. 50 kopecks and improvised (especially a lot of it maketh a kind of Tartar Chepetskiy C.) at 80 kopecks per pound.
The latter, as might be expected, utterly poor, weak and brands; for its preparation is used elochny coal, and for communication of components — onion juice. As you can see, blessed Vyatka not destitute of powder plants, but especially a lot of them in Malmaison County.
No session of the Sarapul district court in this city passes that were not tried two or three people in the illegal manufacture of gunpowder, which sometimes, much to the dismay of police of the different places, obliged to keep to the time evidence, confiscated dozens of pounds. From Maleishego County in the winter depart entire carts of gunpowder, without any precautions in the way, just in krupitchatoy bags in Siberia and the Urals, the Cossacks.
Many of the local hunters believe that we have found not one kind of snipe, but two. One all the belly is white, it is less other and is found in open bogs. Another species breast to half grey, like the grouse, as if the beak is thicker and shorter, more and he himself clinging to the swamps of the forest.
What do between snipe this difference is — it is a fact, but why is it such a difference in the snipe that affect their habitat, I decide I do not presume, and with great interest listened to the explanation of this fact from scientists specialists.
