How to ivalk/or and shoot Snipe. yy 



snipe tearing up-wind close to the ground is 

 an exasperatingly invisible object even on a 

 clear day; and if the light is bad you may 

 often " see nothing of him but his squeak," as 

 a henchman of the distressful isle once ejac- 

 ulated. And here we have another advantage 

 — i.e.^ that a bird springing towards you as you 

 walk down-wind is obliged to rise to at least 

 the height of your shoulder, which is the 

 most convenient elevation of any for aiming, 

 whereas on the opposite plan he can, and 

 usually does, skim away an inch or so off the 

 ground, an exemplification of the poetry of 

 motion and ** protective coloration " that only 

 a philosopher could admire at the time. 



Again it must be urged, in favour of what 

 sailors call ''scudding," that the shooter will 

 be spared the annoyance of finding a second 

 barrel or a right-and-left interfered with by 

 that curse of the game-gun, *' blow-back." I 

 have shot with nearly every powder, both 

 black and nitro, and have never found any 

 of them entirely free from this nuisance. It 

 is true that in most of the better brands of 



