THE WOODCOCK. 45 



treats. Everybody knows that he feeds far in the full 

 moon, and stays at home in the dark ; but everybody 

 does not know how he is affected by the wind. A 

 warm wind coaxes him far away ; when with a cold wind 

 he wraps himself up, and sits close, despite the moon 

 and her beams. The comitry here is finely disposed for 

 cock-shooting — miles of wood on a hill-side, a brook 

 at bottom ; damp marshy hollows, thick with birch and 

 alder, and strips of soft-green meadow for him to feed in 

 or flit over in his noiseless flight. There is 'something very 

 pleasant in cock-shooting. The bird is hard to find, and 

 not easy to kill, and a prize when obtained ; and the 

 scenery is varied and beautiful, for he loves the pic- 

 turesque. It is always exciting, as the bird may rise at 

 any moment ; and you must be well on the alert, as you 

 may only see him for a second, or even be obliged to fire 

 by the ear. I always used two setters, trained not to range 

 more than fifty yards, and each with a bell to his collar. 

 I found them as good as spaniels, and not so disturbing. 

 It is useless flushing birds out of shot, except for irritation ; 

 and a second, or at any rate a third, flush, sends the bird 

 out of all mark, as in such case he will sometimes fly a 

 mile. I remember flushing a cock for the third time, and 

 he was so enraged that he continued in the air for at least 

 a quarter of an hour, and finally went out of all vision. 

 Their flight is very singular, sometimes slow and heavy ; 

 sometimes devious, like an owl ; at others, more rapid than 

 the hawk or the swift, and with such unaccountable twists 

 and turns as set the best eyes at defiance. Once a wood- 

 cock rose before me with great rapidity. I kept my eye 



