82 BAT-SNIPE SHOOTING. 



snugly, a section of the object is presented in every 

 direction. 



Wooden stools are decidedly the best, especially 

 where it is desirable that the birds should alight, 

 and are in general use. They are made of pine,- and 

 painted the distinctive colors of their prototypes ; 

 thus sickle-bills, marlin, and jacks, are all brown with 

 dark spots on the back and wings ; willet, as hereto- 

 fore described; yellow-legs, dark mottled grey on 

 the back and wings, and white beneath ; dowitchers 

 brown on the back and wings, and yellowish-white 

 below ; bull-head plover light on the back, with dark 

 breasts ; robin-snipe light grey on the back and side, 

 and reddish beneath. But the snipe are not always 

 discriminating, and a few varieties will answer every 

 purpose. 



Stools are easily made and moderate in cost, and 

 every sportsman should have not less than twenty- 

 five of his own, so that in case those that he finds at 

 the country taverns for the pubhc use are engaged, 

 he may have some to fall back upon — although 

 twenty-five are not a full supply. They may be 

 carried in a bag or basket, with their feet and bills 

 removed ; and the basket will be useful to hold lunch, 

 ammunition, or game. 



Extempore representations can be made from the 

 dead birds, although they are not quite so good as 

 the wooden ones, by cutting a forked stick with one 

 end much longer than the other, and thrusting the 

 longer point into the bird's neck and the shorter one 

 into its body. It may then be stood up in the sand. 



