Snipe Shooting. 191 



shot may be obtained. The little jack snipe, when 

 flushed, will never fly far, if shot at several times in 

 succession, still settling fifty or sixty yards farther on, 

 and is easily bagged. 



Coming silently as possible round a corner, tread- 

 ing gently on the grass still white with hoar-frost in 

 the shadow of the bushes, you may chance to spring 

 a stray woodcock, which bird, if you lose a moment, 

 will put the hedge between him and you. Artists 

 used to seek for certain feathers which he carries, one 

 in each wing, thinking to make of them a more delicate 

 brush than the finest camel's hair. 



In the evening I used to hide in the osier-beds on 

 the edge of a great water-meadow ; for now that the 

 marshes are drained, and the black earth of the fens 

 yields a harvest of yellow corn, the broad level meads 

 which are irrigated to fertilise them are among the 

 chief inland resorts of wild fowl. When the bright 

 moon is rising, you walk in among the tapering osier- 

 wands, the rustling sedges, and dead dry hemlock 

 stems, and wait behind an aspen tree. 



In the thick blackthorn bush a round dark ball 

 indicates the blackbird, who has puffed out his 

 feathers to shield him from the frost, and who will sit 

 so close and quiet that you may see the moonlight 

 glitter on his eye. Presently comes a whistling noise 



