228 _ SHOOTING AT THE PAIRING-GEOUND. 



The Solitary Snipe, when fat, is looked on as the 

 most delicious of its genus ; and if justice be done to it 

 in the kitchen (as rarely happens in Scandinavia), is in 

 reality what the peasants call " himgs-mat" or a dish for 

 a king ; and being thus valued, is, as a consequence, a 

 good deal sought after. 



Many are shot at the ' Lek-stalle,' of which mention 

 was recently made. " For him who has good eyes and 

 quick hearing," says Dr. Soderberg, " it is only needful 

 to shoulder his fowling-piece, and proceed to the nightly 

 rendezvous of the Solitary Snipe, and tliei'e wait in perfect 

 silence for a renewal of the broken-off concert, and he in 

 readiness to knock over the first that ascends a tussock ; 

 but from the darkness, and the resemblance the bird bears 

 to withered grass, stumps of trees, &c., it is no easy 

 matter, unless one be vei*y near, to distinguish it. This 

 kind of Jagt," he continues, " succeeds best in the morning 

 at daybreak ; but under any circumstances it is not possible 

 to avoid shooting wide of the mark." The number of 

 Solitary Snipes thus shot is hard to say ; Init we read of a 

 ' Lek-stalle ' in the vicinity of the town of Upsala, where 

 some seventy of these birds were killed in 1862. 



But the greater number of these birds that fall to the 

 gun are shot during their autumnal migrations ; Avhich is 

 the less surprising, as, from their flight being slow and 

 heavy, and always in a straight line, they present the 

 easiest mark imaginable. 



At the season in question, admirable sport in certain 

 localities is obtainal)le in both Sweden and Norway, as 

 may be gathered from w^hat follows : — " At the end of 

 July, when the meadows are mown," says M. Greiff, 

 " shooting commences with the pointer, and continues 

 until the end of September. They may also be shot 

 in the spring; but I have remarked that this is injurious 

 to tlic autumnal Jagt. In the whole round of sporting 



