THE FINDING AND KILLING OP WOODCOCKS. 73 



moor and other game ; I have seen him, in circumstances 

 extremely disadvantageous to himself, bag twenty -nine 

 grouse and old black-cocks in as many consecutive shots, 

 taking every bird as he rose; he then stopped early in the 

 day and went home. The thirtieth bird required the second 

 barrel, and that broke the ice. Although I have seen him 

 bag thousands of woodcocks, I never saw him bag more than 

 nine consecutive shots, taking every bird as he rose within 

 shot. I saw him on one day, in difficult covert, flush twelve 

 woodcocks and a snipe only ; he took every bird as it rose, 

 and brought them all home only the -ninth cock was the 

 better of the second barrel. I have seen him have nearly 

 fifty fair shots at woodcocks in a day; but never have seen 

 him bag more than nine cocks consecutively; and I never 

 have seen any other man kill as many. 



" The difficulty of woodcock shooting is so evident to 

 every one who has had experience in it as to render any 

 remarks of mine on the subject unnecessary; but to those 

 sportsmen who, to their own loss, have not had much of this 

 sport, I may remark that the flight of a woodcock is very 

 much quicker than a novice would be led to suppose, from 

 the apparently slow movement of his wings; then, in about 

 the best of woodcock ground, your footing is very insecure; 

 and, when the frozen-over brooks and pools of water, which 

 you must continually cross, are covered with a coating of 

 snow, you require quite as many hands and legs as you are 

 possessed of to save your gun and your head from destruction. 



" In moor and general open game-shooting there is very 

 little variety in the appearances of shots which are offered 

 to you. The variation is between a shot going right away, 

 and one crossing you either more or less; but in woodcock 

 shooting there is an almost endless variety of shots offered, 

 very seldom indeed two of the same description presenting 

 themselves in succession now descending almost perpen- 

 dicularly over your head from a high overhanging cliff, with 

 a degree of rapidity almost inconceivable; then descending 

 from the top of a precipice, over which you are standing, 

 with equal velocity, to a very great depth below; again, 

 suddenly appearing within five yards of you, flying (at the 

 same rate) right at you, and passing over your head within 



