Bogtrotting, etc. 103 



prepared to fling gun to shoulder, no matter 

 in what constrained or awkward position the 

 shooter, by reason of the InequaHtles or 

 marshiness of the ground, may be at the 

 moment of a bird's springing. The power 

 of doing this naturally, or of learning to do 

 it, Is certainly so much more the property of 

 some men than of others, that it may perhaps 

 be dignified by the title of ** knack." Quick 

 sight — by which I mean the power to use 

 good eyes quickly, a by no means universal 

 accomplishment — and determination are not 

 knack, and to call them so is a misuse of 

 terms. They are both capable of improve- 

 ment, I had almost said of creation, by culti- 

 vation — so, therefore, any able-bodied man 

 who has or acquires them by that ''universal 

 provider," practice, has nine -tenths of the 

 law on his side already in the matter of 

 shooting snipe. 



Taking for granted, then, that a sports- 

 man has trained his eye to see the snipe 

 as they spring, and his hand to the feel of 

 a gun, wherein lies the remainder of the 



