SNIPE-SHOOTING. 381 



there is little more to be said on the use of the pointer and 

 setter. 



SNIPE-SHOOTING. 



The following observations on snipe-shooting in Ireland, by 

 an Irish sportsman, recently appeared in the columns of "The 

 Field ; " and, as the writer has had far more experience in this 

 ■ department of sport than I can lay claim to, I prefer introducing 

 these extracts to inserting the results of my own experience, which, 

 however, are strictly in accordance with his : — 



" In Ireland the best sportsmen do not commence snipe-shoot- 

 ing until the November frosts set in. This is sometimes con- 

 sidered an old-fashioned prejudice ; but there are good reasons 

 why it should be postponed until that seasoD. For, although 

 the birds bred here are in good condition in September, or even 

 earlier, they do not, except to the mere tyro, afford anything like 

 the same sport. Instead of the ringing scream and rapid eccen- 

 tric flight with which they dart away from the shooter through 

 the thin frosty air of a winter's day, they flutter up with a 

 faint cry from his feet, fly straight forward, and pitch almost 

 immediately ; while, to the gourmand, the difference in flavour 

 between a bird placed on the table in September and December- 

 is almost as great as between a spent salmon and one fresh run 

 from the sea. On the other hand, those birds which arrive here 

 in October, during the equinoctial gales, are so thin and worn 

 out with their long flight as scarcely to be worth powder and 

 shot. 



" In shooting these birds, with or without a dog, it is always 

 better to hunt down the wind, as, unless it is blowing a hurri- 

 cane, they always fly against it. By this means the sportsman 

 will get two shots for one he would otherwise obtain. The 



