52 Sporting Sketches 



the search for the second. When shooting alone, 

 or far from a comrade, and a double is made, I re- 

 load before stirring a foot. This leaves two empty 

 shells on the ground, to indicate my exact position, 

 and this, with the memory of the turn or partial 

 turn made for the second, gives a close line on its 

 whereabouts. Very frequently this saves a bird and 

 valuable time, for, at the worst, it will guide to within 

 a few yards of the game, and every yard saved in 

 beating foot by foot through grass is important. 

 Hat or handkerchief dropped at the firing point 

 also makes a useful mark when grass is tall. A 

 snipe breast upward is easily seen, but only about 

 half of them fall in that position. Back upward, 

 the striped effect blends curiously with grass and its 

 shadows, and a winged, or otherwise, wounded, bird 

 seems to know this, and to act accordingly. Men 

 trained on the wet lands acquire a marvellous knack 

 of marking down, and a mighty useful accomplish- 

 ment it is. 



Moving on, Tom flushed a brace on bare ground 

 and scored, the last bird falling full fifty yards from 

 the gun. I marvelled, for it was a long, clean kill. 

 Before he reached these, two single chances were 

 offered and accepted, and a third bird went career- 

 ing away, rising higher and higher, like a wind- 

 driven leaf. As Tom's birds lay upon easy ground, 

 I kept my position, more from habit than with any 

 idea of being of service. A wave of his hand di- 

 rected my attention to the late towering bird, which, 

 as they frequently will, had decided to return. Like 

 a plummet it fell some thirty yards away, and, as an 

 experiment, I held about four feet under, and it hit 



