TEN-BIKD SHOOTING. 109 



f ilie same lengtli, and is sharp and horny at the point. The sides 

 f the head, neck, and breast, are cinereous, edged with ash-coloured 

 jray ; and the chin is white, with a stroke of the same colour 

 )assing' over each eye. All the upper parts of the plumage are 

 iarkish brown, but more deep and glossy on the crown of the head, 

 3ack, and scapulars, and each feather is edged wdth ash or gray. 

 Che under parts are a cream-coloured wliite, streaked or spotted 

 irith brown on the sides and vent. The great coverts of the 

 jrings are tipped with white, which form a bar across them when 

 jxtended; and the legs are of a yellowish hue, and short, not 

 neasuring more than two inches and an eighth, from the middle of 

 the toe to the knee. The thighs are feathered nearly to the knee, 

 md the toes are divided without any connecting membrane. 



These birds are more easily taken with nets than shot. When, 

 '■the sportsman is following them with the gun, they generally run 

 very fast ; and it is always a matter of considerable labour and time 

 ' beforehe can make them rise within a fair range. Their motions 

 are quick when on the wing — a httle whirHng and unsteady. IVhen 

 a severe frost sets in, they betake themselves to the sea shore, 

 where they are easier killed with the gun, than upon the fenny 

 .marshes. They are netted by the fowlers in Lincolnshire, in great 

 cnumbers. They are decoyed into the nets by carved wooden 

 [figures painted to represent themselves, and placed within_ them, 

 much in the same manner as the ruff is taken. The knot is like- 

 wise fattened for sale, and esteemed by many equal to the ruff in 

 .delicacy of flavour. The best season for its capture is from August 

 to November. 



i The Bed Shank or Pool Snipe {Scolopax Calidris^ Limi.)— This fen- 

 jbu'd is rather a favoiu-ite with many sportsmen, as it affords them 

 |a good deal of amusement at certain periods of the year. It is 

 I twelve inches long, and twenty- one broad, and weighs about five 

 i ounces and a half. The bill from the tip to the corners of the 

 mouth is nearly two inches long, blackish at the point, and red 

 towards the base. The feathers on the top of the head are dark 

 brown, edged with a pale rufous hue. Over each eye there is a 

 whitish line, from the corners of which dark-brown spots extend to 

 the beak. The irides are hazel. The hmder part of the neck is 

 obscurely spotted with dark brown, on a rusty ash-coloured 

 ground. The throat and fore part are more distmctly marked or 

 streaked with spots of the same colour. The breast and belly are 

 white, tinged vf ith ash, the spots are thinly distributed, and are 

 shaped something like the heads of arrows or darts. The general 

 appearance of the upper parts of the plmnage is glossy oUve brown, 

 and those on the shoulders, scapulars, and tertials are transversely 

 marked with the same coloured waved bars, on a pale rusty 

 ground. The bastard wing and chief quills are dark brown ; and 

 the inner webs of the latter are deeply edged with white, freckled 

 with brown; and some of thtse nuills next the secondaries are 

 beautifully marked near their tipt.mih^arrow brown lines, exactly 



