86 A Book of the Snipe, 



a method is not only a waste of time and 

 trouble, but has also the disadvantage of 

 causing you to miss over many birds lying 

 between the point at which you left the 

 stream and that at which you again strike 

 it. It must be remembered that in snipe- 

 shooting half the battle is flushing the birds, 

 whether you actually get a shot or not, for 

 it will be seldom that a large percentage may 

 not be marked down for a second attempt. 

 Of course if a certain spot on the water's 

 edge is known to harbour birds, it will pay 

 you to approach it cautiously, possibly ne- 

 cessitating a retreat from the bank some dis- 

 tance before aiming at the place ; but such 

 a manoeuvre would only be necessary in a 

 brook of quite unusual straightness. 



I have noticed that snipe flushed from the 

 sides of watercourses do not generally take 

 long flights, whatever the weather or wind 

 may be, their places of refuge on such oc- 

 casions being occasionally very unexpected 

 and odd, so that careful marking is particu- 

 larly advisable. I have many times observed 



