282 OF SHOOTING, 



struck ever so slightly. Among the common 

 snipes some are larger than others ; these are 

 thought to be the males : snipes however are 

 sometimes found, which, from their extraor- 

 dinary size, must necessarily be of a different 

 species, but those are so rare, that they do 

 not here require a particular description, 



WILD DUCKS. 



This race of birds which have the shape 

 ajid form of the tame duck, are extremely 

 numerous, and there is no other bird which 

 affords so many different species as this ; but 

 of these only the common wild ducks are 

 found in considerable numbers in Great- 

 Britain. I shall therefore confine the des- 

 cription to them alone. 



Wild ducks are also birds of passage, and 

 arrive here in great flights from the northern 

 countries, in the winter ; still, however, a 

 great many remain in our marshes, fens, 

 lakes, &c. and there breed. They pair in 



