ON SHOOTING. 181 



as they are called, on the West Coast of Scotland or on one 

 of the fascinating islands lying off it. 



The axe has been described as the woodcock's best 

 friend, in the sense that young plantations replacing felled 

 timber are, during a certain stage of growth, his favourite 

 haunts. This stage is sometimes defined as the period at 

 which the trees and under-covert permit his running freely 

 in search of food, while the growth is low enough to afford 

 shelter and warmth and to keep the ground soft enough for 

 the probing of his greedy bill. But in reality, so long as there 

 are soft feeding-grounds near by, he loves an undergrowth 

 of rank heather. 



In the locality recommended, it is mainly in long 

 heather that you will find him. In the islands, generally 

 speaking, there are no woods except hazel or birch scrub, 

 and thus the felling of trees which has altered the features of 

 the mainland out of all recognition, has no direct influence 

 on the presence or absence of island woodcocks. Indirect 

 influence may, indeed, be noticeable in time, i.e., when, if 

 ever, the devastated districts on the mainland are replanted, 

 or the schemes for afforesting the glens bear visible 

 fruit. 



You will be very lucky if you can get hold of a piece 

 of ground such as I occupied sixteen years ago. I will not 

 give you its exact whereabouts : free advertisements are 

 not the game, and prospecting will be a valuable experience 

 to you ; but I will describe my paradise and its inhabitants 

 in order to give you an idea of what to look for. It consists 

 of a promontory nearly 20,000 acres in extent, situated on 

 one of our largest islands ; on the north side, low rushy 

 fields running down to the sea ; on the south, a rocky shore 

 (with the exception of a bit of crofters' ground) so wide as 

 to materially reduce the formidable number of acres ; 

 between these limits, a waste of low hills and wide glens ; 

 " faces " clothed with birch and hazel scrub ; occasional 

 little snipe bogs ; jumbles of rock and bracken. A road 

 runs through the northern part of the ground to the narrow 

 and rocky west end of the promontory ; another skirts the 

 loch which forms the eastern march ; these roads bring 

 one within walking distance of all the beats, though the 



