SNIPE SHOOTING. 53 



The remark is equally true of the three ex- 

 citing diversions, that when one has enjoyed them 

 to perfection, they are apt to give him a distaste 

 for his other previously most cherished pursuits. 

 In fact, we have found the prediction strongly 

 manifested even by uneducated men of ordinary 

 capacities, who have been reared in the vicinity 

 of snipe grounds. 



" Hunting quail," said an old resident of the 

 Neck, who had killed great numbers of snipe, 

 partridges and woodcock in his day, "is like 

 killing the stock on a man's farm ; but a snipe 

 was made to be sprung and shot as certainly as 

 a trigger was forged to be pulled."* 



* This old man. has assured us, that he had often seen snipe rise 

 from his meadows in dense flocks, like reed birds, in September, 

 and that previous to the invention of percussion locks, he and his 

 brother had killed a market basket full in a -few hours. 



He had shot snipe and woodcock in parts of the lower districts, 

 now thickly populated, and lived to see the day when ho was 

 forced to complain, that he could hardly find a dozen reed birds in 

 his own fields. Even in his latter days he was a remarkable shot, 

 discharging his piece almost at the instant on which the butt 

 touched his shoulder, and most generally with decided effect. 



Though not much given to jocular remarks, he was wont to say, 

 that his dog had such an opinion of his master's shooting, that he 

 barely waited for the report before he sprang forward to retrieve 

 the bird. Old Brazier was perfectly familiar with every rood of 

 meadow or " mash" for miles and miles around, and will long be 

 remembered in the Neck, for his skill as a shot and the energetic 

 peculiarities of his disposition. 



4 



