WOODCOCK SHOOTING 3 1 1 



dance of other kinds of shooting, for the woodcock is 

 comparatively a rare bird and its season is a short one ; 

 therefore the keen edge of enjoyment of woodcock 

 shooting is never dulled by surfeit. The habitat of 

 the bird is distinctly different from the home of all 

 other game birds, and on the earth's surface only tiny 

 spots here and there meet the wants of its nature, 

 and many vast tracts of fertile country have no wood- 

 cock ground at all. 



It, too, is a bird of mystery, of whose coming and 

 going no one knows. It is nocturnal in its habits, and 

 its haunts have been such secluded and unused spots 

 rarely invaded by man that it is seldom seen. The 

 residents of sections wherein is the home of the wood- 

 cock may never see one from year's end to year's 

 end, and, indeed, may go through life with no more 

 knowledge of them than that derived from hearsay; 

 or, seeing one, may still remain in ignorance of its 

 identity. While the quail, the partridge, the snipe, 

 and other game birds are not unfamiliar to country 

 residents and are readily identified by them, the wood- 

 cock and its doings are shrouded in mystery. The 

 large woodpecker in some sections is called woodcock 

 by the country folk, while in other sections any plover 

 which has a long bill is often called by the same name. 

 So little is the bird known, that sometimes when killed 

 it is called snipe, and sometimes the snipe is called 

 woodcock, by those who have not given the bird spe- 

 cial study or attention. Its life being so entirely with- 

 out the sight of man and in general so little being 



