154 NATURAL HISTORY AND 



with much of the cover-shooting I have rented, 

 the woodcock sport of 1864-5 in Bute was really 

 superior. With the exception of one distant snap, 

 and taking all chances as they came, I had the 

 good hap to bag the first fourteen woodcocks I 

 fired at last winter. When hard frost set in, the 

 average bag was from three to five couple, besides 

 a fair score of other game. In a really good 

 woodcock year, I have little doubt ten or twelve 

 couple might be bagged on one day by a superior 

 shot. 



The variety of the early winter shooting of the 

 Kyles keeps excitement alive, and adds zest to the 

 sport. My diary of the 21st of last November 

 notes that my son and I killed grouse, blackcock, 

 woodcock, wild duck, moorhen, rabbit, and roedeer. 

 On the following Wednesday, the 23d, grouse, 

 black game, partridge, woodcock, snipe, hare, and 

 rabbit. 



Flying overhead, or pitched among the marshes, 

 large flocks of golden plover and curlews some- 

 times give occasion for " a family shot." The 

 former keep much among the higher hill -tops, 

 while the curlews chiefly affect the waste ground 



