66 WING-SHOOTING. 



occasion, when following a bevy of quail in the corn, I 

 unexpectedly fell in luck amongst the cock. It was a 

 cloudy, boisterous day, and the quail ran after alight- 

 ing, as the dog moved along rapidly upon the trail for 

 seventy or eighty yards, when he stood ; up flipped a 

 cock — the quail were lost, but sixteen large, full-grown 

 woodcock were gathered in that field, besides half as many 

 more arose up in the wind, and flew across a large field, 

 and topped some swamp elms in their flight, disappear- 

 ing some six or seven hundred yards away — the longest 

 flight made by woodcock, of any that has ever come under 

 my observation. Hunting for cock in the corn is very 

 uncertain sport, and unless the sportsman is well up to his 

 work, the bag is likely to be small. It reminds one of 

 snipe shooting in the spring ; that is, it is uncertain, as an 

 immense extent of country must be gone over, as a rule, 

 to make a bag. I have often worked over twenty or more 

 fields in a day's tramp, and in order to accomplish this 

 feat I would be ofi" before daylight, and would not return 

 until after dark. At times I would be straight away five 

 or six miles from home without a bird in the bag, and 

 then, probably the next two or three fields would furnish 

 suflicient to give me a bag of eight or ten couple. As 

 stated alove, that hunting) for cock in the corn is much 



