430 GAME-BIRDS. 



very difficult to kill or even to approach them. So it is also 

 in autumn, when the birds first appear ; they are frequently 

 wild and active, so much so as to make the pursuit of them a 

 series of vexations ; and yet, two days afterwards, the very 

 same birds, having got fat and a little more lazy, afford 

 delightful sport. 



After hearing the accepted rules condemned, the reader 

 may well ask for some substitute, but such rules are like 

 rules of grammar ; a man may shoot well, and speak gram- 

 matically, knowing no rules ; he may know all rules and yet 

 be able to do neither. Yet to know what others have learned 

 is often useful. The success of sportsmen is more often due 

 to their manner of getting shots than to their manner of mak- 

 ing them. The chief difficulty in Snipe-shooting is the sud- 

 den and unexj^ected way in which the birds often jump, on 

 either side or behind ; but they may usually be marked down 

 with accuracy, as they throw up their wings to alight, and 

 they should then, as always, be approached down wind, no 

 matter how great a detour is necessary. By a study of their 

 habits the sportsman will soon find upon what days and in 

 what places they may be most easily and successfully shot. 

 More may generally be killed by a vigorous walker without a 

 dog than with one, if one prefers birds to pleasure. As to 

 the shooting, as in all shooting on the wing, you cannot shoot 

 too quickly or too deliberately ; when to fire quickly and 

 when deliberately is to be learned by practice only. As for a 

 precise rule, an old friend used to say : " Pull, as soon as the 

 gun touches the shoulder, if not sooner J'^ There is humor in 

 all wisdom, but perhaps an undue proportion in this advice 

 for practical use. All that can be said is : " Shoot as soon as 

 you know that the gun is right ; the sooner, the better." 

 After blowing a few birds to pieces, you will learn how far to 

 modify this rule. Many birds will be missed by being under- 

 shot, and many by not being shot at well ahead. Some sports- 

 men use number 8 shot ; some number 12 and intermediate 

 sizes. Number 9 does very well. 



Autumn is the proper season for Snipe-shooting, both be- 

 cause the birds are then more certainly found and because 



