176 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



shot, having only caught a glimpse of him through 

 the evergreen boughs, as he endeavoured to escape 

 by a rapid flight at the opposite side of the tree. 



And then the woodcock-shooting in November 

 I must take you back once more to my fa- 

 vourite Downs. With the first full moon during 

 that month, especially if the wind be easterly 

 or the weather calm, arrive flights of woodcocks, 

 which drop in the covers, and are dispersed among 

 the bushy valleys, and even over the heathery sum- 

 mits of the hills. If it should happen to be a 

 propitious year for beech -mast the great attrac- 

 tion to pheasants on the Downs, as is the acorn 

 in the weald you may procure partridges, phea- 

 sants, hares, and rabbits in perhaps equal pro- 

 portionsi with half a dozen woodcocks to crown 

 the bag. 



The extensive, undulating commons and heaths 

 dotted with broken patches of Scotch firs and hol- 

 lies on the ferruginous sand north of the Downs, 

 afford where the manorial rights are enforced 

 still greater variety of sport. On this wild ground, 

 accompanied by my spaniels and an old retriever, 

 and attended only by one man, to carry the game, 

 I have enjoyed as good sport as mortal need desire 

 on this side of the Tweed. Here is a rough sketch 

 of a morning's work. 



Commencing operations by walking across a 



