6o A Book of the Snipe. 



neath. We should account for every bird 

 here, but there are not many of them, and 

 we see no Jack, ahhough they are certain to 

 be skulking in the dry clumps around the 

 tiny puddles in the spade-holes. 



The rolling plain is only about half a mile 

 in length, and is bounded by a narrow stream, 

 which for a short distance runs parallel to 

 the line of hills from which it sprang. Before 

 we cross it, it will be as well to take a look 

 at the ground beyond, which is vastly differ- 

 ent from that on which we are standing. 

 Immediately across the water lies a small 

 bog, covered with rushes so dense that no 

 mud can be seen beneath, though here and 

 there a faint dark strip, like the track of a 

 dog in a field of standing corn, betrays the 

 existence of an invisible rivulet. For a 

 reason that we will presently put to practical 

 proof, we will not take the trouble to-day 

 of forcing our way through that waist-high 

 thicket, though I know that it holds more 

 snipe in Its two or three acres than an equal 

 number of square miles of any other portion 



