SNTPE snooTiNo.] BV FIHLI), WOOD, AND WATER. [snipe snooTnro. 



that tlio snipo ia tlio hardest to hit of nil birds; 



wlioroas, in others, it is siiid to bo aiiythinp; 

 but diUloult to bring down a snipi*. Jn our 

 opinion, however, there are tsvo methods of 

 hitting him with moderate eertainty: the 

 ono ia by snap-sliooling, wliich i3 a habit 

 gained bv some, but not to bo critieally de- 

 scribed by any, except we regard it as a con- 

 sentaneous action of eye and hand at the samo 

 moment. The other certain mode of snipo 

 shooting is to put the gun into the hand of the 

 cool and deliberate marksman, wlio, nothing 

 ilurried, waits his opportunity, and the moment 

 the bird settles into its course, arrests that 

 course by a shot." Tiie OnMcigh Code aflirms, 

 that " the shooter will bring down a snipe 

 with much less difficulty at fi'om fifteen to 

 twenty paces, than at any other distance. 

 The aim is thus taken just before the bird 

 begins to malie its cross-ili^hts, but before it 

 has attained its full speed. The irregularity 

 of its flight is of little consequence during the 

 first and second twisting, before the bird is 

 safely on tlic wing, since its flight is then com- 

 paratively tardy. But let the snipe fly ten 

 yards from whence it sprang — let it be, for 

 instance, twenty-five paces distant from the 

 gun — it is then at the top of its speed, and in 

 the very midst of its sidelong, elliptical gyra- 

 tions, and more than a match for the majority 

 of shooters." 



"Whether dogs should be employed in snipe 

 shooting is another point of dispute; but 

 where there are many men there must be 

 many minds ; and if these were to agree in all 

 things, they would soon become rusty and 

 useless. Accordingly, some maintain that dogs 

 are useless in snipe shooting ; whilst others 

 consider them as highly necessary. " AVho 

 shall decide vphen doctors disagree ?" Mr. 

 Blaine tells us, that he shot snipes in England, 

 Ireland, and Scotland, and never did so with- 

 out a dog, if he could get one. In Ireland, 

 snipe shooters not only have dogs, but beaters 

 and markers in addition. 



We believe that snipes were, in this country, 

 much more abundant than they now are. 

 Mr. Daniel tells us, that snipes, in the Cam- 

 bridgeshire fens, were, at one period, most abun- 

 dant ; those brought to Cuiubridge market, 

 which at that time were all shot birds, sold at 

 threepence to fivepence each. One season 



ho killed, ill three moniingfl, thirty-threo 



eouplo of snipes; and from having known hia 

 father's men catch tliein by drawing with a 

 net in the night-time, ho mentioned to a 

 person near Milton Wm, hia surprise tliat this 

 mode of taking tiiein had not been resorted to. 

 Tlio fenman incpiiri'd what sort of net was to 

 bo used, and was told a lark-net would answer 

 the purpose of a trial. This the fenman soon 

 borrowed, and, the first night of his making 

 tho experiment, caught as many snipes as a 

 small iiamper could contain. Tho practice 

 soon became general ; and tho netted were so 

 much better than tho shot birds, that tho 

 latter could scarcely find a purcliaser in tho 

 market. The price at Cambridge afterwards 

 increased to a shilling, and sometimes to 

 eighteen-pence a-picce. The Duke of Marl- 

 borough's gamekeeper, on ono occasion, killed 

 twenty-two snipes at one shot. 



A French sporting writer says, that, in the 

 year 1793, there were such immense flocks of 

 snipes settled along the south-eastern coast of 

 France, that they were taken in cart-loads. 

 They were so weak and feeble, tiiat the pea- 

 sants used to knock them down with their 

 hands or their hats. As this occurred when 

 the revolutionary frenzy was at its height, the 

 country people thougiit the presence of these 

 birds, in such multitudes, was a miracle ; and 

 very few, in consequence of this notion, were 

 eaten. 



The localities for good snipe shooting are, in 

 England, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and 

 Northamptonshire; and the Essex marshes 

 have been long known and celebrated for this 

 sport. The birds are likewise to be found in 

 Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, and West- 

 moreland. In Scotland they are, on the whole, 

 more numerous than in England. In the 

 former country whisps of thirty and forty are 

 not uncommon in the boggy and marshy lands, 

 near the lochs and rivers which there abound. 

 Ireland, however, carries ofi"the pahn in point of 

 abundance. There it is no uncommon achieve- 

 ment to kill forty or fifty brace of these birds 

 in a few hours. They are to be met with in 

 every section of the country. In North and 

 South AVales there is likewise good sport. 

 Twenty brace have been killed among tho 

 mountain bogs there in four hours ; and this, 

 too, in comparatively unfavourable weather. 



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