COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 349 



and nibbling in the soft mud, in search of his food, 

 which consists chiefly of a very small kind of red trans- 

 parent worm, about an-half inch long ; it is said also 

 to eat slugs, and the insects and grubs of various kinds, 

 which breed in great abundance in those slimy stagnant 

 places. In these retreats, when undisturbed, the snipe 

 walks leisurely with its head erect, and at short intervals 

 keeps moving the tail. But in this state of tranquillity 

 it is very rarely to be seen, as it is extremely watchful, 

 and perceives the sportsman or his dog at a great distance, 

 and instantly conceals itself among the variegated 

 withered herbage so similar in appearance to its own 

 plumage, that it is almost impossible to discover it while 

 squatted motionless in its seat : it seldom, however, 

 waits the near approach of any person, particularly in 

 open weather, but commonly springs and takes flight 

 at a distance beyond the reach of the gun. When first 

 disturbed, it utters a kind of feeble whistle, and gently 

 flies against the wind, turning nimbly in a zigzag direction 

 for two or three hundred paces, and sometimes soaring 

 almost out of sight . its note is then something like the 

 bleating of a goat, but is changed to a singular humming 

 or drumming noise, uttered in its descent. 



From its vigilance and manner of flying, it is one ot 

 the most difficult birds to shoot. Some sportsmen can 

 imitate their cries, and by that means draw them within 

 reach of their shot ; others, of a less honourable descrip- 

 tion, prefer the more certain and less laborious method 

 of catching them in the night by a springe, like that which 

 is used for the wood cock. 



The snipe is migratory, and is met with in all countries ; 

 like the woodcock, it shuns the extremes of heat and cold 

 by keeping upon the bleak moors in summer, and seeking 



