SHOOTING THE WOODCOCK. 129 



opening;' the ruffed grouse never does, but sets 

 sail for the closest and densest part. Now, when 

 the woodcock is going swift and twisting among 

 the stems of the saplings, he is very easy to miss, 

 and sportsmen who make good bags of cock in 

 the prime of the fall season have a right to bo 

 proud of their exploits. This sort of shooting is 

 much more pleasant than that to be followed in 

 the tangled " cripples " of New Jersey, all over- 

 grown with cat-briers and thick brush, with no 

 good footing where you are, and no possibility 

 of knowing where you will be next. In Albany 

 County, New York, we used to use cocking-spaniels 

 when woodcock-shooting. I have had none of that 

 breed in the, West, and now employ setters. 

 They are bolder and better in forcing their way 

 in rough places than pointers. The thin skins of 

 the latter get all cut and torn, and their feet 

 give out. But the best dogs I have ever had for 

 general sport, take one sort of shooting with an- 

 other, have been cross-bred between the setter 

 and the pointer. For work these beat any pure- 

 bred dog I ever owned, and, I may add, ever 

 saw. But concerning this I shall treat further on. 

 A great many woodcock may be found about 

 Lockport, Illinois, forty miles southwest of Chi- 



