THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 411 



Caucasus there is a distinct species [Tetrao miokoezieviezi), which 

 Hves at high altitudes, and is found in summer above the timber- 

 Hne. 



Another favourite spring shooting in Russia is afforded by the 

 woodcock. It goes by the name of iiaga. The gun is posted 



at a place where birds have been observed to fly at 



J 1 11 1 r 1 TTT Woodcock, 



dusk, usually at the corner 01 a wood. Woodcock 



invariably choose the same spot for their evening flight. The 



co.cks skim the tops of the trees in search of mates, uttering a 



hissing sound which is heard at a distance, and warns the shooter 



of their approach. They generally fly round and round the same 



bit of ground, and as many as a dozen birds have been bagged in 



this manner in less than an hour. Woodcock are frequently met 



with in early autumn drives round St. Petersburg. They migrate 



south after the first snowfall, and are then found in numbers in the 



southern governments of Russia. 



Lakes and marshes are exceedingly numerous, hence wild swans, 



geese, and ducks of every kind, snipe (both the common and great 



snipe), ruffs, plover and curlew. There is capital shooting of this 



kind on Lake Ilmen, in the government of Novgorod, Here swans 



and geese collect by thousands in spring on their way 



. Wild-fowling, 



north, usually at Easter time, and mimense tracts of 



country round the lake have been rented by a few sportsmen, who 



own the exclusive rioht of shootinof o-ame in that district. I have 



been a member of this club for years, and can state that very large 



bags have been obtained. Special hunters are appointed to give 



timely notice of the pass, which hardly ever lasts more than a week. 



