1 8 A Book of the Snipe, 



free gift of Nature from her countless store 

 of living creatures which she takes very 

 good care to hide away in the fastnesses of 

 her great nursery, the North. You cannot 

 buy his eggs or his chicks at so much a 

 dozen, to be coddled and incubated until 

 they are ready to be the prey of shooters 

 who have tended them from their youth up. 

 You cannot boast of the numbers you have 

 of him in your preserves, and tell your 

 friends in your letter of invitation how 

 many cartridges they are likely to require. 

 Let 'em bring as many as they can carry ; 

 they may have to bear home the identical 

 number, or, on the other hand, to send a 

 man hot-foot for more. You didn't ''put 

 so many birds down," and heaven knows 

 how many the fates will let you take up. 

 If you carry back a holocaust or but a soli- 

 tary jack on your snipe-sticks, be grateful 

 in either case. Your pocket is no lighter, 

 and no one can lay to your charge the dis- 

 appointment of a poor show of birds, any 

 more than they can thank you for profusion. 



