AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 47 



This of course refers to England, where horned cattle 

 are, as a rule, excluded from the coverts, but in the 

 wilds of European Turkey, where in many cases the 

 cattle aforesaid are the only road-makers, the insects 

 that frequent their dung are an undeniable attraction 

 to the Woodcock. 



In our county I have more than once seen a 

 Woodcock mobbed by Titmice, Chaffinches, and 

 other small birds as he threaded his way amongst 

 tall trees, a habit that proves the comparative 

 scarcity of the bird, as these little birds no doubt 

 took them for Hawks or Owls, and treated them 

 accordingly. I never noticed this in any country 

 much frequented by the subject of these notes. 



The Woodcock-shooting in Epirus and Albania 

 was, before the insane cession of Corfu, perhaps the 

 very best to be obtained in any part of the world ; it 

 was my good fortune to spend the winters of 1856-7 

 and 1857-8 in those parts, with Corfu as my base 

 of operations. It was then easy for two or three 

 guns to kill from 50 to 100 Woodcocks in a day's 

 shooting, and larger bags than this were constantly 

 made. At the periods just mentioned Englishmen 

 could land and roam at pleasure on Turkish territory 

 without restriction of any sort, and without the 

 danger from the murderous brigands that made the 

 sometimes excellent sport in Greece a very question- 

 able enjoyment. The facilities offered by the snug 

 little harbours on the coast opposite to the island of 

 Corfu, the beauty of the country, and the variety of 

 game, made perfect happiness to lovers of the gun, 

 and to one who combined with that affection a taste 

 for ornithology, a sojourn in the Ionian Islands at 

 that time remains " a joy for ever." These coasts 



