136 FEATHERED GAME 



and tliat there is a fair prospect of getting a 

 good bag of birds, provided, always, that you 

 can handle a gun with the skill needful to cut 

 down the squeaking gray streak which doubles 

 and twists away in front of you. He gets under 

 way about as soon as any bird that flies, and 

 unless he lies close you must do the very quick- 

 est and most accurate work to stop him. There 

 is, in my humble opinion, no marsh gunning to 

 be compared with snipe-shooting over a good 

 dog, with birds plenty and not too wild. As a 

 rule they do not like to leave a good feeding 

 ground and so allow the sportsman to come 

 close before flushing, thus a man who knows 

 his ground may make a fair bag of birds with- 

 out a dog; but, to make an Irishman's ^'bull," 

 the pleasure is doubled when shared with your 

 four-footed chum, for his every lithe move- 

 ment, graceful line and beautiful pose is plainly 

 seen. 



Probably no bird which comes under the 

 sportsman's eye has such a reputation as a 

 dodger. He may throw summersaults sidewise 

 or endwise, or he may travel as straight as a 

 honey-laden bee, but however he may steer his 

 course he will have a full head of steam on and 



