84 ^ Book of the Snipe, 



possibly result in many of the birds missed 

 or flushed out of shot departing out of bounds 

 for the rest of the day ; for though they will 

 of course spring head to wind, they are far 

 more likely to make their final escape over 

 the frontier towards which you are driving 

 them, than to pass you by to take up a 

 fresh position in rear. Whereas if you travel 

 quickly along the boundary, making here 

 and there short incursions up-wind, nearly 

 every bird that departs unscathed will drop 

 eventually somewhere on your own domain, 

 to be dealt with more carefully at your next 

 merry meeting. 



A very favourite haunt of snipe, often 

 their only one in a frost, is the rush-fringed 

 margin of a brook, especially if it be of a 

 winding nature with little reedy peninsulas 

 projecting from the salients of each bend, 

 and here and there a stretch of growth or 

 mud in mid - channel. Excellent shooting 

 may be had under such conditions, for the 

 snipe usually lie well, occasionally even re- 

 quiring to be flushed by a dog, if collected 



