WOODCOCK, SNIPE, AND PLOVER. 277 



shooters and all true sportsmen naturalists. One 

 thing I know, so far as our rarer British birds are 

 concerned, any mouching lout that gets his living 

 in a way only known to himself and to those he 

 provides specimens for, both birds and their full 

 nests, can laugh in his sleeve at the Bird Preserva- 

 tion Act ; for I know that no bird there specified 

 that is at all uncommon can show itself for a single 

 half-hour in certain places without being shot. If 

 the poor creatures had all of them the bewildering, 

 dodging flight of the little Jack-snipe it would be the 

 better for them. In six cases out of ten they would 

 escape. 



It is not a system of extermination with regard to 

 members of the wading family, to which the Scolo- 

 paxes undoubtedly belong, that I wish to ventilate. 

 There is no fear of that, for they come from their 

 vast sanctuaries and breeding-grounds far away, in 

 their seasons, as they have done for ages. Nothing 

 will stop, the migration of birds in its due season. 

 But the fens are drained now to a great extent, 

 so that their haunts are limited, and vast hordes 

 must pass on to other lands where they can find all 

 that they require. Those that do find little lonely 



