REMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 189 



dwindled down to almost nothing, and the 

 game-books told a sad tale. I never could 

 account for it. I never killed them down close, 

 as I seldom shot a woodcock beat more than 

 once. Sometimes I thought my little malignant 

 fairy had done it ; but, no, that could not be, 

 for they equally lessened and almost disappeared 

 on F. M.'s ground, too. Now this phenomenon 

 — the disappearance of woodcocks for a time in 

 districts where they have been plentiful — is 

 not peculiar to the Lews. I have known it 

 happen in other places; at Killarney, for in- 

 stance. I remember four or five — nay, more — 

 consecutive years, when these birds there be- 

 came so comparatively scarce that they seemed 

 about to desert their favourite haunts. I have 

 thought much on the subject, and don't know 

 what conclusion to come to. 



There is, or was, in Argyllshire, a very wise 

 man about cocks — a Campbell, of course — ^who 

 wrote very well on them and their ways some 

 years ago in the Field. I wish he would let 

 us have his ideas on the subject. That they 

 do disappear where they were plentiful is a 

 fact ; it is also a fact that they come back 

 again. As for wise saws on the subject, I don't 

 much care for them. One, they take the eggs 

 in Norway and Sweden, where they breed and 



