276 OF SHOOTING, 



are left to grow for timber ; for it is but sel- 

 dom that a woodcock is found in a young 

 copse of more than three or four years' 

 growth. When it is said they take up their 

 abode, it must not be understood to mean 

 that they remain in the same wood during the 

 whole of the winter, for it is observed that 

 they do not stay more than sixteen or 

 eighteen days in one place. 



This bird rises heavily from the ground, 

 and makes a considerable noise when he 

 wings. When he is found in an open field, 

 in a hedge-row, or in the pass of a wood, he 

 frequently only skims the ground, and then 

 his flight not being rapid, he is easily shot. 

 But when he is sprung iu a tall wood, where 

 he is obliged to clear the tops of the trees be- 

 fore he can take an horizontal flight, he 

 sometimes rises very high, and with great 

 rapidity ; in this case it is difficult to seize 

 the moment of shooting, by reason of the 

 turnings and twistings which he is obliged to 

 make in order to pass through the trees. 



