Smj>e - Shooting. 703 



are a dozen little bunches of grass near where the second bird tell, 

 any one of which may be that by which you marked him ; and as for 

 the first, you feel very hopeless about being able to go within twenty 

 s of where it dropped. So you may lose half an hour of valu- 

 able time in searching for the dead. Practice in marking and a 

 quick eye will, after awhile, enable you to retrieve your own birds 

 successfully. As a matter of fact, there is always something — a 

 bunch of grass, a bit of drift stuff, a flower, a leaf, or a weed stalk 

 — near your bird which is unlike anything else close to it ; and 

 you must see this object, whatever it is, and remember it, in the 

 instant's glance that you have. Of course, some birds will be lost, 

 — that is inevitable; but it is wonderful to see how, by practice, 

 the memory and the eye can be trained in a matter of this kind. 



The snipe, although often very wary, appears to be quite devoid 

 of that cunning which distinguishes so many of our game birds. 

 When wounded, it rarely attempts to hide, but either runs off quietly 

 in a straight course, or, if only wing-tipped, springs again and again 

 into the air in its attempts to fly, and constantly utters its singular 

 squeak of fright. # 



There is one feature of snipe-shooting which makes it very 

 attractive, and this is that you have your dog constantly within 

 sight; you can see all his graceful movements and enjoy his intelli- 

 t<» find the birds, — to locate without flushing them. To 

 our notion, more than half the pleasure of field shooting of any 

 description is derived from seeing the dog work, and this can be 

 done better on the open snipe meadows than under almost any 

 other circumstances. Beating for snipe, however, is usually, from 

 the nature of the ground. \ < ry laborious work. The walking is 

 often through mud and water up to the knees, or perhaps one is 

 obliged to pick his way through an unusually soft marsh, springing 

 from tussock to tussock, with every prospect of tumbling now and 

 then from those unsteady resting places into mire of unknown 

 depth. This mode of progression requires some muscular exertion 

 and constant Attention ; and besides this, the dog must be con- 

 stantly watched, and unexpected birds, which he may have passed 

 by. must Ik! shot at and marked down. 



It is therefore ess. ntial that the snipe-shooter should carry no 



.1 weight. His gun should be light, and his cartridges need 



