338 EMPLOYMENT OF THE DOG IN HUNTING, ETC. 
at the windward end of the bog, and send the attendant in to leeward, with 
directions to make as little noise as possible ; by this means a few shots may 
be obtained, and you will have an opportunity of, perhaps, marking some of 
the birds down in more favourable ground. At all events, there is the chance 
of meeting them when scattered through the country. ; 
“Many an old Irish sportsman will smile at the idea of any person giving 
directions for finding suipe. Until the last few seasons they have been so 
numerous that all he had to do was to walk into the first marsh and blaze 
away until the light failed or his ammunition was expended. What with 
severe and long-continued frosts, however, drainage and other ‘dreadful in- 
ventions of science, as one of your-correspondents terms agricultural improve- 
ments, we are not (except in a few happily situated Alsatias) so sure of a good 
bag as we were ; it may, therefore, be worth the shooter’s while to study the 
habits of these birds, Indeed, every sportsman ought to be something of a 
‘field naturalist, as it gives him an additional enjoyment in his favourite 
sport. 
i The state of the weather is, I believe, the great clue to the haunts of the 
snipe, their delicate organisation making them peculiarly sensitive to atmos- 
pheric influences, At the first breath of the autumn trosts those birds which 
have been bred upon the mountains leave their summer quarters, and come 
down to the vast bogs which still abound -in some parts of our island.. Here 
they are soon joined by their comrades from Scotland and the North of 
Europe, who rapidly recover from the effects of their long flight ; and from 
that time forward, until the arrival of spring scatters them again, their life is 
one constant succession of changes from one part of the country to another, 
moving towards the sea-shore, the mountains, or inland, according as the 
season is mild or severe. 
“In very mild wet weather snipe leave the bogs and return to the moun- 
tains, where it is scarcely worth the sportsman’s while to follow them. With 
a good dog, however, fair sport can be had at such times by beating rushy, 
coarse pastures and heathery uplands, where he will be sure to find a con- 
siderable number of outlying birds. In this description of ground they lie 
well to a dog, and are much easier to shoot than in the bogs, where the un- 
steadiness of footing makes it difficult to take accurate aim. 
“T have always found northerly winds with hail-showers the best weather 
for the marshes, The hail drives the birds down from the mountains, collects 
them together, and makes them unwilling to rise. In white frosts they are 
generally wild, though numerous ; in hard black frosts they assemble in wisps 
about the margin of unlrozen springs, along the borders of streams, or in 
marshes near the shore. Bent grass is also a favourite haunt at such times, 
as frost has seldom any effect upon it. Should the severe weather continue, 
they take to the plantations like woodcocks, to furze-covers on southern slopes, 
and to the rocks on the shore. : i 
“Snipe are very restless at ni ht, but, unless disturbed, seldom move in the 
daytime. During bright moonlieht nights they travel a great deal, and are 
fond of feeding on the sea-shore. Walking along the coast at such times, I 
have put them up in dozens, and even in daylight have shot them on a strand. 
In beating a marsh near the sea I have always been least successful when the 
tide was out, which I could only account for by the supposition that the birds 
were then feeding upon the strand. ; : 
“Tn some districts in Ireland there are what are called black and red 
bogs. The sportsman will sometimes find them in one and sometimes in 
