294 CATALOCxUE OF BIRDS. 



the trigger he either rises or falls, the consequence 

 being that you shoot under or over him. 



Owing to this peculiarity of flight and its dis- 

 similarity to that of the Common Snipe, it is a bird 

 that demoralises the sportsmen on the bogs more 

 often than not ; for you only get one or two here 

 and there amongst the many shots you may get at 

 the other with its zig-zag rapid flight, and the 

 consequence is, when this little chap flits up like a 

 butterfly, he doesn't go half fast enough for you, and 

 the result is a miss ! I certainly can say, so far as I 

 am personally concerned, that the Jack Snipe would 

 sometimes pretty well put me oft my shooting for 

 the day, should I happen to ha\'e commenced badly 

 by meeting one and missing him, then following 

 him up and missing him again, I would get so riled 

 with the bird that I would inwardly register a vow 

 to expend a whole bag full of cartridges sooner than 

 confess to being beaten. 



The Jack is such a confiding little bird that it 

 does not matter much how many shots you fire at 

 him, he will invariably fly only a short distance 

 before settling down again, when you are able to 

 mark him for another shot. 



There is an amusing story told about an Irish 

 gentleman who possessed one Jack Snipe upon his 

 property, which he pursued religiously with his gun 

 for eighteen days, the bird giving him an immense 

 amount of practice during that time. On the 

 eighteenth day he killed it — probably by a fluke. 

 " Confound it ! " he said, "all my sport's gone now." 



