Snipe Shooting 193 



they may go right overhead, yet it will often be too 

 high for they rise at a sharp angle when frightened ; 

 and men who are excellent judges of distance when 

 it is a hare running across the fallow, find themselves 

 all at fault trying to shoot at any elevation. Perhaps 

 this arises from the peculiarity of the human eye 

 which draughtsmen are fond of illustrating by asking 

 a tyro to correctly bisect a vertical line : a thing that 

 looks easy, and is really only to be done by long 

 practice. 



To make certain of selecting the right spot in the 

 osiers over which the ducks will pass, for one or two 

 evenings previously a look-out should be kept and 

 their usual course observed ; for all birds and animals, 

 even the wildest wild fowl, are creatures of habit and 

 custom, and having once followed a particular path will 

 continue to use it until seriously disturbed. Evening 

 after evening the ducks will rise above the horizon 

 at the same place and almost at the same time, and 

 fly straight to their favourite feeding-place. 



If hit, the mallard falls with a thud on the 

 earth, for he is a heavy bird ; and few are more 

 worthy of powder and shot either for his savoury 

 flavour, far surpassing the tame duck, or the beauty 

 of his burnished neck. With the ducks come teal 

 and widgeon and moorhen, till the swampy meadow 



o 



