WOODCOCK SHOOTING. 161 



posted before beating a cover is begun, is very es- 

 sential ; for when a cock is flushed, he should never 

 be left, if possible, while in the land of the living. 

 The most favourite spots, both in and out of cover, 

 with the woodcock, are clumps of hollies. There 

 or thereabouts, you may be sure of him, if the beat 

 has not lately been disturbed. Early in the season, 

 however, his creeps are among the hedgerows, on the 

 margin of ponds, in springy, marshy bottoms, and 

 subsequently in young woods, and the skirts of plan- 

 tations. At times, he is very sluggish, and will lie till 

 the veiy bush he is in is struck ; at other times^ he 

 is as much on the ale}'t. Sometimes, he will not fly 

 a hundred yards after being fired at, and will afford 

 half-a-dozen shots, should he survive long enough; 

 then again he is on the Vving before you are half 

 within range, and do n't alight till he has put miles 

 between himself and you. To-day he flies straight 

 and slow, so that it is hard to miss him ; to-morrow 

 his flight is twisted like a corkscrew, and rapid as a 

 falcon's stoop. 



Colonel Hawker, who has bestowed upon this 

 sport the name of " the foxhmiting of shooting," is 

 extremely concise in his remarks upon it. He says, 

 indeed, that a real good sj)ortsman feels more gratified 

 by lulling a woodcock, or even a few snipes, than 

 bags full of game, that have been reared upon his own 

 or neighbour's estate ; but he dismisses very abruptly 

 the means of so gratifying himself. In a countiy where 

 cocks are scarce, he tells you to be sure to put a 



n2 



