208 



THE SNIPE 



was cut about a foot in height to a great extent along the ground 

 in the shape of the letter v, at the apex of which an opening would 

 be left where a hair noose would be set, which seldom failed to 

 yield the pot-hunter a nightly supply, as the cock would run along 



FIG. 121. THE WOODCOCK. 



the side of the brushwood, feeding until it was led into the snare. 

 Woodcocks, however, are now so scarce that " pot -hunting " in the 

 manner described is seldom practised. Nevertheless, in Ireland, 

 on Lord Ardilaun's estate at Ashford, in Lough Corrib, more than 

 two hundred woodcocks have been shot in a day. 



SNIPE. Nesting to some extent in Britain, this bird may seem 

 displaced in this connexion, yet snipe mostly migrate for breed- 

 ing, and it is in winter time that their influence for good is exerted 

 by destroying in or by small streams and ditches innumerable 

 worms, molluscs, Crustacea and insects. Snipe are sometimes 



