70 SHOOTING AND SALMON FISHING 



grazed in summer ; thus we once saw quite a snipe preserve 

 formed, as for several weeks each heap held them round the 

 edges of it, doubtlessly tempted to remain there by the good 

 feeding ; for it seemed as if the animalculse they subsist on 

 were bred in the manure and passed by filtration to the wet 

 ground surrounding. 



When seeking for snipe in long straight ditches, it is best to 

 walk somewhat in the shape of the letter S,* and only to 

 approach the actual side of the ditch every fifty yards or there- 

 abouts ; for if the shooter walks along the whole length of 

 it he can clearly be seen approaching from a long distance, 

 and thus all wide-awake birds will rise out of shot. In a few 

 places snipe are driven to the guns, and then, although they do 

 not fly as fast or as " twiddling " as when first flushed, they 

 offer very pretty high shots, and any one who has been grouse 

 driving will probably have recollections of a few shots of this 

 sort. 



Under the wing of every snipe will be found several long 

 feathers with black and white bars, which are useful for the 

 wings of salmon flies. They can be used as they are or dyed to 

 any colour, and make a nice addition to the long mixed wing 

 tied on the large hooks so much used on many spring rivers. 



The best snipe bags we have seen have been made on the 

 shootings of Kilmaronaig by Oban ; the Laggans by Camp- 

 belton (a hundred and fifty couple to one gun by the tenth of 

 December), Carim by Blackford, Raehills by Moffat, Glen- 

 tromie by Kingussie, Carnanton in Cornwall, Langley Park 

 near Norwich, and Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire, and on 

 this last-named estate, though not twenty miles from London, on 

 a very cold winter day we once killed twenty-three snipe for 

 twenty-seven cartridges. On all these places there are at 

 certain times great quantities to be met with, but they are 



* A critic has expressed a wish to see the author walking in the shape of the 

 letter S ; but that I cannot do. The type should have read, " It is best to make one's 

 walk in the shape," etc., etc. 



