74 VARIETIES OF SHOOTING. 



a few yards of you, almost instantly dodging behind a rock 

 or tree, and no more seen of him. 



" It would be endless to attempt to describe the variety of 

 shots which present themselves to a woodcock shooter in this 

 country. I neither pretend nor presume to interfere with 

 the observations of gentlemen who have been accustomed to 

 shoot woodcocks in champagne districts, such as in planta- 

 tions of larch or fir of a moderate height; but to do even 

 that well requires practice. My woodcock-shooting expe- 

 rience extends little beyond a very rugged part of the West 

 Highlands of Argyllshire, comprising a good deal of open 

 shooting in heather and short brushwood ; but I can't say it 

 is easier than shooting in covert. 



" Woodcock shooters enjoy two considerable advantages 

 the one is, that very little shot brings the bird down ; and 

 the other is, that a wounded woodcock, if unable to fly, is the 

 least running of all birds I have shot, and is easily re- 

 covered. 



"I have generally shot woodcocks alone, and have been 

 accustomed to make all my arrangements; consequently, if 

 anything goes wrong I know who is to blame. I like to use 

 No. 7 shot, and to be accompanied by three beaters and a 

 well-nosed, slow-going dog of the retrieving species. My 

 beaters must be strong and active men, well fed and well 

 clothed, and wearing strong leather gloves, each carrying a 

 stout walking-stick, with which the trees and stones are 

 smartly struck as the man goes along. I never allow a word 

 to be spoken, except " Mark /" that remnant of ignorance, 

 " Whirr cock," is, I am glad to observe, fast falling into dis- 

 use, and for many years past has been totally disused in my 

 coverts. The sound of all the bacchanalian-like screeches 

 which I so often have been condemned to listen to tends 

 directly to defeat the object of the yellers. In a covert so 

 beaten I have observed that roe-deer, hares, and pheasants 

 sit close, allowing the howlers to pass them, when they start 

 and run back. Woodcocks also sit close, and when the 

 beaters have passed, take wing and fly back. If a game- 

 keeper wishes to save his birds, let him instruct his beaters 

 to make as much noise as they can; but if the object is to 

 show game, even the foot-fall (if possible) of a man should 



