164 WOODCOCKS AND SNIPES. 



wild ; but my beater reminded me of the woodmen. So 

 we stationed ourselves in the line of his return progress, 

 and soon had the satisfaction of seeing him, as we expected ; 

 and I shot him flying over my head. 



In overgrown larch plantations, with long bare stems, it 

 is impossible to fire too soon, as all the shots must be 

 taken before the birds rise to the branches. If, on the 

 contrary, the covert is low, the cock should be allowed to 

 get among the tree-tops ; and there will, most likely, be 

 opening enough for a quick shot. Otherwise, pick a snap 

 through the thinnest screen of tree-tops and branches. To 

 do all this mechanically, requires both self-command and 

 long practice. Of course these remarks refer to large 

 plantations, where there are no open spaces to take 

 advantage of. 



A few woodcocks remain to breed in this country ; and 

 nests of young are found, most seasons, in the heathery 

 islands of Loch Lomond. When the summer is very 

 warm, they, like the wild-drakes, moult so severely as for 

 a short time to be unable to fly. I have occasionally seen 

 them in the twilight, after a calm, clear, summer day, 

 chasing each other high in the air ; making a piping noise 

 not unlike the "blouting" of a mire-snipe. In former 

 times, I never heard of their nests being discovered : so, 

 most likely, our less sunny summers have induced a 

 sprinkling of them to remain the whole year. I have in 

 my collection a couple of woodcocks' eggs, found in 

 Inchtavanach a few springs ago. 



The evening flight of the woodcock is rather earlier than 



