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2IO THE BEST SX/PE SHOOrL\G IX THE WORLD, 



will be 'found most useful, but pray be counselled, 

 do not take with you a brute as large as a calf. A 

 water spaniel from sixteen to eighteen inches at 

 the shoulder is large enough. Your game will all 

 be walked up, so your canine friend must be under 

 good control. 



At the east end of your beat there are several pros- 

 perous-looking, comfortable farm-houses. At one of 

 these you would find no difficulty in making arrange- 

 ments to become boarder and lodger. All of them 

 have a spare bedroom, and the charge for such 

 accommodation should not exceed sixteen shillings 

 or four dollars a week. 



Many of these farmers are well-educated, and the 

 society of their families — particularly of the young 

 ladies — will be found most agreeable. Only take 

 care that you do not lose your heart, it is not the 

 first time that an Old Country bachelor has succumbed 

 to the fascinations of a "prairie belle." 



If the shooting and scenery become monotonous, 

 keep going north, making a change in that direction 

 of about twenty miles a week. A waggon for this 

 purpose is always obtainable for hire, oftener lent 

 out of courtesy and sheer good-will. 



The snipe to be obtained is known as the English 

 or Wilson's snipe {Gallinago Wiisoiiii). In it I have 

 never been able to note any difference from our home 

 favourite. True Wilson, the Great American orni- 

 thologist—a Paisley, Renfrewshire, man by birth — 

 says that the bird that has received his name has 

 two additional small feathers in the coverlets of its 

 wings, in excess of what our own species possess. 

 No doubt this accurate and close observer is right, 

 but otherwise the plumage of both is identical, also 

 their habits, flight, even down to the shrill and 

 defiant ske-eep which they utter immediately after 

 flushing, are precisely similar ; moreover, when served 



