COCK IN THE CORN". 71 



southward, and continue, if necessary, in that direction 

 till dark. About two miles southward we came upon 

 them and bagged nearly all, having secured fourteen 

 couple during the afternoon. 



I once missed a rare opportunity at full cock by being 

 too solicitous for my own comfort ; a relation of the in- 

 cident will explain how, and also Drove that woodcock 

 closely observe the time of their departure. A friend and 

 I had made arrangements to try for cock on the twenty- 

 fourth of October, which was frustrated, so far as I was 

 concerned, by a severe snow storm setting in on the 

 twenty-first, and continuing all day on the twenty-second . 

 It was chilly and quite cold on the night of the twenty- 

 second, and began to thaw on the morning of the twenty- 

 third. 1 threw up the sponge, concluding that the walking 

 would be as bad as could be, and that all the cock would 

 take their departure on that night, after the late freeze, 

 although the moon would not be in the full until the 

 night of the twenty -fifth. However, my friend was full 

 of pluck, and concluded to make a start on the evening of 

 the twenty- third, having a trip of forty odd miles by rail. 

 On the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, the snow had al- 

 most disappeared, and when he was about tired out, the 

 walking being extremely heavy, he fell upon the cock in 



