268 ON SURRE Y HILLS. 



relative, the woodcock. So far as sport goes, he is 

 more to be considered, for he is, I believe, distributed 

 all over the country in suitable localities, whereas 

 the woodcock is, so to speak, more local in all his 

 arrangements. You will generally find him in any 

 likely wood, or on any moor, unless he has been 

 much harried. The snipe, so far as I know him, 

 shoots all over. All sportsmen are keen after him, 

 being both a good bird for eating and good for sport 

 also. Snipes are beautiful, both as regards shape 

 and colour ; but their tones of colouring run in 

 stripes of yellow and warm brown, mixed with white 

 and pale drab, the very tints of the withered herbage 

 that they hide or rest in. So closely do their colours 

 agree with their surroundings, that you might be 

 within a few yards of half-a-dozen of the birds with- 

 out perceiving one, until they sprang up, shouting 

 " Scape, scape," at their very loudest, and twisting 

 like corkscrews. Very fractious they are in their 

 movements : at one time you are not able to get 

 within fifty yards of them, at another they will allow 

 you to get close to them. 



As far as food goes, snipe and woodcock feed 

 much alike that is, on worms of all sorts. The idea 



