20 A YEAR OF SPORT AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



England, many a Snipe is shot during the months of September, 

 October, and November, it is not till the first week in December 

 that he can be said to be abundant anywhere in these islands ; 

 and after the first frosts he is a very different bird from what he 

 was previously, for he is then sharper and quicker in his flight, 

 and in better condition. By January he will be found in fair 

 numbers ; and in nearly every patch of marshy ground, every 

 warm spring, or tiny rill we may expect to find our little long-billed 

 friend. But beware how you search for him in some places, or 

 your enthusiasm may place you in an awkward predicament, for 

 the Snipe loves quaking bogs, and if you venture too far you may 

 souse in up to your armpits in mud, weeds, and water, and find 

 some difficulty in extricating yourself. Under such circumstances, 

 and having to exercise due caution in advancing on his stronghold, 

 the difficulty of making good shooting will naturally be consider- 

 ably enhanced, for there is no standing still whilst the birds are 

 driven to you, and you have to look out for two things, your safe 

 footing in a treacherous bog and your game. Snipe frequent queer 

 places at times, places that border so closely on civilization and 

 traffic that one would hardly expect to find such essentially wild 

 birds in them. I can, as I write, recall several such incongruous 

 localities, notably one spot on the Fossil Estate near the Maryhill 

 Barracks, Glasgow, where one day, but a few years ago, I bagged 

 twelve couples of Snipe besides a teal. The place was an old 

 flooded coal-pit, and abutted on to manufactories, coal-pits and a 

 railway whilst there were many buildings almost within gun shot. 

 Probably by now it is drained and built over, but even at the time 

 I mention it was sufficiently unlikely looking ground. Another 

 capital bit of snipe ground was a strip of marshy land covered at 



