ON SHOOTING. 185 



peace in woodcock coverts, which were scattered and 

 unfenced. 



The absence of rabbits, apart from my innate hatred 

 of a pest which causes more waste and more ill-feeling than 

 all other beasts shootable added together, and my loathing 

 of his plague-bearing parasite-riddled carcase as food, was 

 a blessing, enabling the spaniels to concentrate on their 

 proper game, and relieving the gun of uncertainty as to the 

 nature and value of each quest ; rendering unnecessary all 

 the whistling, rating and whip-cracking inseparable from the 

 presence of these four-footed abominations. 



The scent of the woodcock possesses a mysterious 

 attraction for a dog used habitually in his pursuit. The very 

 strength of the aroma, which is repugnant to a dog unentered 

 (and the best " entering/' as I have told you before, is effected 

 on young peewits or curlews), produces in one who has, 

 with work, acquired a liking for it, some deep joy which finds 

 expression in various ways. For instance, some dogs will 

 roll on the bird's excrement, the vigour displayed in the 

 operation varying with the freshness of the traces. To the 

 shooter this habit is a useful one in a premonitory sense, and 

 emphasises the importance of keeping one eye on the dog 

 always. The woodcock is a heavy eater, and leaves corre- 

 spondingly large and frequent mementoes, plainly discernible 

 on the dark ground, not only in his feeding area, but also 

 actually in his diurnal resting-places. Then, again, his 

 blood must have a penetrating smell, for I have seen a dog 

 follow, on the ground, the line of a wounded cock on the wing, 

 " pointing " on the way. It was not till the performance 

 was repeated on snow that I could be quite certain what 

 he was pointing at, viz., drops of blood. To track thus, in 

 long heather, a dog needs a good nose, which this one, a 

 retriever-collie cross, certainly possessed. 



There seemed to be certain spots which always held a 

 woodcock in certain weather ; thus, in the frost — seldom 

 more than superficial — various little mossy holes behind 

 waterfalls seldom failed. The droppings here afforded proof 

 of long and regular and well-fed residence. From one of these 

 holes a woodcock could often be poked out with a stick. 

 The ragged heather, bare beneath, was preferred in wet 



