156 A Book of the Snipe. 



that I mercifully refrained from spoiling his 

 pleasure by telling him of the cohorts which 

 must have broken camp and evacuated his 

 domain but a few hours earlier. But even had 

 he come down upon them like the Assyrian, 

 his bag would probably have been but little 

 heavier, for it is ten to one that the three 

 hundred would have risen as one bird, with 

 one shrill vox et prcsterea nihil, leaving him 

 gazing (I invoke the First Offender's Act) 

 wispfully after them I 



When snipe rise thus in wisps, it is gener- 

 ally worth while to stand still until they have 

 finished their aerial manoeuvres, and mark 

 them down as they drop singly (which they 

 will nearly always do) into different nooks 

 and corners that they have spied from above. 

 If the birds rise thus day after day from any 

 place, station a man in a commanding posi- 

 tion, with orders to mark the descending 

 birds for you. Some countrymen are mar- 

 vellously clever at this, and will retain in 

 their memory almost to an inch the lurking- 

 place of at least half a score of birds which 



