WOODCOCK AND SNIPE 105 



in winter, and it varies more or less, not remarkably 

 so unless in white or pied varieties, but quite 

 enough to notice. In the matter of weight he 

 varies remarkably at times. I have seen very fine 

 cocks, what we should consider home-bred, well-fed 

 birds, not flighters, and there was exactly the same 

 difference between them and those known to be 

 flighters from over the sea, as there is between the 

 wild ducks bred in this country and those that come 

 to us from other lands. I believe myself that those 

 creatures that do not have to exert themselves much 

 in order to get a living, because a good living is 

 close to them, are as a rule larger than those who 

 have to travel a long distance for it. 



The Woodcock carries the young at times, when 

 in danger, and also to moist feeding-grounds when 

 too far away from the nest for the chicks to travel 

 to them. This has been questioned, but the fact is 

 now an established one. 



It is not often that two Woodcocks are killed at 

 one shot, but Chantrey, the famous sculptor, once 

 did this. The birds that flicrht to us from over the 

 sea pitch down anywhere for a short time — only for a 

 few hours — quite tired out ; if any one has the luck 

 to see them drop, some good work can be done with 

 straight powder. One man known to myself picked 

 up as many as fifteen out of a field of turnips. He 

 missed some, but the number I have mentioned fell 

 to his gun in one afternoon. They must be waited 

 on quickly, for directly they are a bit rested they 

 are scattered far and wide. 



