CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 289 



in the old days, with merely a beater or two, you 

 would hardly put up a single bird in a day's tramp. 



Your only chance in these days is to be possessed of 

 one or two first-class Irish setters, trood ranofers, 

 with plenty of heart in them ; dogs that will not give 

 up ranging on account of the paucity of birds. 

 When I have been out on the bogs around Water- 

 ville with good old John Sullivan, I had two 

 splendid dogs, Jock, and his son Paddy ; the former 

 was a capital ranger, and even though Snipe were 

 so thinly scattered as to be from a quarter to half a 

 mile apart, Jock would not be likely to miss one of 

 them. Paddy was very fond of the Woodcock, and 

 was Ai at that species; at the same time, he was 

 good at Snipe, although not such a fine ranger as 

 his father. 



In the present day ten couple of Snipe is con- 

 sidered very fair for a day's sport, whereas the 

 average I daresay would not be more than five to 

 seven couple, according to luck of ground. 



What I have just said clearly shows the difference 

 between Snipe shooting as it is now and what it 

 used to be. I remember once arriving with John 

 on one of the crack bogs called Killurley, about eight 

 miles from Waterville, when just as we were going 

 on to it an old Irish peasant, who was standing by, 

 exclaimed, "There's na Snipe at all, at all." I said, 

 " I am sorry to hear that, as I hope to find some." 

 " Na," he said, "Col. P.'s shot em all." That shows 

 you the impression the Colonel had made on these 

 Irish peasants in the years that had passed. Of 



