1 88 A Book of the Snipe. 



tufts and tussocks which even In the worst 

 floods usually stick up high and dry above 

 the surface of the water. 



It Is seldom, however, that good sport is to 

 be looked for when Mr Snipe Is reduced to 

 huddling uncomfortably with his kind on a 

 resting - place whose dimensions must be 

 measured in inches. Everything Is against 

 the sportsman. In the first place, the mere 

 fact of their being together in numbers In a 

 small space is enough to render the inhabit- 

 ants of each little island unapproachable, even 

 if the attack did not involve much splashing 

 and floundering through the surrounding 

 water. Secondly, I have always noticed that 

 the sound of a shot echoing over the surface 

 of water has a magical effect on all the snipe 

 within earshot. I found this out shooting 

 around the margin of a large shallow mere. 

 Though fully a mile broad, a few shots fired 

 on one side on a calm day were usually suffi- 

 cient to put up the majority of the birds 

 hidden amongst the rushes on the other, and 

 it rarely repaid me to shoot my way round to 



