THE WOODCOCK 
THERE are many reasons why the 
woodcock should be prized by the 
winter sportsman more than any other bird 
in the bag. In the first place, there is its 
scarcity. Half a dozen to every hundred 
pheasants would in most parts of the country 
be considered a proportion at which none 
could grumble, and there are many days on 
which not one is either seen or shot. Again, 
there is the bird's twisting flight, which, 
particularly inside the covert, makes it 
anything but an easy target. Third and last, 
it is better to eat than any other of our wild 
birds, with the possible exception of the 
golden plover. Taking one consideration with 
another, then, it is not surprising that the 
first warning cry of " Woodcock over ! " 
from the beaters should be the signal for a 
sharp and somewhat erratic fusillade along 
the line, a salvo which the beaters themselves 
usually honour by crouching out of harm's 
way, since they know from experience that 
even ordinarily cool and collected shots are 
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