136 FEATHERED GAME 
and that there is a fair prospect of getting a 
good bag of birds, provided, always, that you 
can handle a gun with the skill needful to cut 
down the squeaking gray streak which doubles 
and twists away in front of you. He gets under 
way about as soon as any bird that flies, and 
unless he lies close you must do the very quick- 
est and most accurate work to stop him. There 
is, in my humble opinion, no marsh gunning to 
be compared with snipe-shooting over a good 
dog, with birds plenty and not too wild. Asa 
rule they do not like to leave a good feeding 
ground and so allow the sportsman to come 
close before flushing, thus a man who knows 
his ground may make a fair bag of birds with- 
out a dog; but, to make an Irishman’s ‘‘bull,”’ 
the pleasure is doubled when shared with your 
four-footed chum, for his every lithe move- 
ment, graceful line and beautiful pose is plainly 
seen. 
Probably no bird which comes under the 
sportsman’s eye has such a reputation as a 
dodger. He may throw summersaults sidewise 
or endwise, or he may travel as straight as a 
honey-laden bee, but however he may steer his 
course he will have a full head of steam on and 
