ii8 How I Became a Sportsmax. 



"mark cock" is heard, that they do not give 

 themselves time ; for the woodcock is, after all, 

 very often anything but a difficult bird to kill 

 though it is true he is a very erratic bird in his 

 flight, sometimes sailing along like a veritable 

 owl, at another you just catch a glimpse of 

 him, and he has put some bush or tree between 

 you and him like lightning; or sometimes, when 

 he appears to have made up his mind to go at 

 least a mile, he drops suddenly down in some 

 most unlikely spot. 



A good marker in woodcock shooting is 

 everything, and he must not conclude be- 

 cause he saw him very near the ground up to 

 a certain point, that there, or thereabouts, 

 you will find him ; for very often when he 

 appears to drop he just gives his wing a flap 

 and goes off to the right or left, or very often 

 turns back, so as to deceive any but an ex- 

 perienced marker. 



I have always made it a rule when cock- 

 shooting in covert, when you cannot make out 

 birds which you fancy you have marked down 

 and cannot find, to go myself outside the 

 covert and beat the ditch outside, and send 

 some to do the same inside the covert, by 



