BULLET AND SHOT 



SNIPE SHOOTING 



Snipe occur in more or less abundance, according 

 to local conditions, both in natural swamps, and in 

 the enormous areas of artificially irrigated land 

 devoted to the cultivation of rice and other crops 

 requiring moisture. 



For the purpose of irrigation, chains of tanks 

 (or artificial reservoirs) some distance from each 

 other, and with a fall from the top one to the 

 next, and so on, supply water to the wet land 

 (which is usually cultivated with rice) lying below 

 each of them, the surplus fluid being conducted into 

 the tank next below. 



Any portion of the irrigated land, as well as of 

 the waterspread of the tank, may, when it is in 

 condition for them, and at the proper season, be 

 expected to hold snipe if the locality is a favourite 

 one with the birds. Snipe have preferences and 

 dislikes for localities which only one of themselves 

 could explain, and though doubtless food -supply 

 is their main factor, the birds usually shun places 

 in which the mud is mixed with gravel, or is gritty. 



Too much water is a very common cause for 

 disappointment, when the sportsman has perhaps 

 ridden or driven some miles to a favourite ground, 

 only to find the greater part of it submerged, and 

 therefore untenanted by the birds. 



Deep, soft mud, if covered with a growth of 

 short grass, is very suitable for the requirements 

 of snipe, and such is often to be found both in 



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