72 A Book of the Snipe. 



confess that when birds have been plentiful 

 I have often during the reflective interval of 

 lunch been somewhat ashamed when I con- 

 sidered how little I had missed the society 

 of my kind. Next to one, then, two Is the 

 best; more than this is inadmissible if real 

 work is to be done, and even two will not, 

 other things being equal, get as much sport 

 per man as a solitary individual. If dogs 

 are being used, there is the constant doubt 

 as to who should take the point, and on 

 these occasions even sotto voce courtesy is un- 

 desirable, for the snipe may not wait for the 

 quickest of decisions on points of precedence. 

 The whole question of dogs will be dis- 

 cussed later, but it may be said here that 

 to be the less hardy and active walker of a 

 pair of guns shooting snipe over dogs is an 

 experience to be avoided if possible. The 

 reason of this will be apparent when the 

 method of approaching the *' point " Is ex- 

 plained. If, in addition to your limited bodily 

 powers, your natural instinct, your observa- 

 tion of the wind, and the thousand and one 



