WOODCOCK SHOOTING 309 
you step up to him he moves again, very slowly and 
cautiously, and then suddenly stops and remains mo- 
tionless. It is a pretty picture, and one that the sports- 
man never tires of watching and admiring. The dog’s 
fore foot is raised in the act of stepping, his tail is 
straight and rigid, head a little above the line of the 
back and slightly turned to one side, ears a little 
pricked. Walk up beside him and look at his face, and 
you will see, what his attitude already indicates, that 
he is laboring under strong excitement. His nose is 
perhaps within a few inches of the bird and the scent 
is strong. You will see his eyes roll as he looks over 
the ground before him. His forehead is knotted into 
a frown, which shows how thoroughly in earnest he 
Tse 
The bird is likely to fly up from beneath the dog’s 
nose, so close to you that you cannot shoot without run- 
ning the risk of either missing altogether or else blow- 
ing him to fragments, and will then, perhaps, dart be- 
hind a thick cedar or twist into some alders through 
which you can hardly see to shoot. 
The alder runs, so numerous through the New Eng- 
land States, are most satisfactory places to work for 
woodcock. These are usually the channels of little 
brooks a few feet below the general level of the open 
meadows through which they pass. The ground is 
too damp to be successfully cultivated and the farmer 
gives it up to the black alder, which attains a height 
of from fifteen to twenty feet. Beneath these in the 
wet, springy soil, the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus), 
