THE WOODCOCK 257 



merly shot at night by means of torches and beaters. 

 I found them very abundant a few years ago in 

 Northern Indiana and in Illinois, but they are no- 

 where found in any such numbers as Forester de- 

 scribes. The sportsmen of the country have viewed 

 their decimation with alarm, and just now the ques- 

 tion of a rest period of some years' duration is being 

 urged in the papers devoted to field sports. 



The season for cock-shooting was until a few years 

 ago entirely too long. The opening day in most of 

 the States was July ist, and summer cock-shooting 

 was practised everywhere. The argument in favor of 

 shooting cock in summer and snipe and ducks in the 

 spring has always been ad hominem, resting not upon 

 merit, but upon the position of those engaged. If we 

 do not shoot woodcock in July and snipe in April, 

 we will have no July or April shooting. But as the 

 scarcity of game of all sorts is brought to the atten- 

 tion of sportsmen, the sentiment against spring and 

 summer shooting grows stronger, and this sentiment 

 is already reflected in the legislation of many States. 



I passed one summer at a farm a few miles from 

 Cincinnati, on the Little Miami River. I had no 

 thought of finding woodcock so near the city, but 

 one day I asked a local angler if he had ever seen any 

 woodcock in the vicinity, and he said he had flushed 

 an occasional bird along an old and abandoned mill- 

 race just across the river. The following Sunday he 

 was going over after minnows, and I accompanied him, 

 taking a camera, since he described the place as most 

 picturesque, darkly beautiful and romantic, with occa- 

 sional glimpses of water in the old race. We entered 



