364. THE COMMON OR FANTAIL SNIPE. 
I need not, I think, offer any instructions of my own as to 
how Snipe should be shot, the more so that my advice would 
mainly consist in getting a good gun, loading it lightly and 
holding it straight; but I subjoin* very useful hints on the sub- 
ject by Captain Baldwin and Mr. Reid. Both these gentlemen, 
however, are staunch “ off-the-wind” workers, that is to say, they 
advocate always working down with the wind (in accordance 
with the accepted English method) on to Snipe, and it is there- 
fore only right to note that here, in India, in shooting vast flooded 
tracts, where nothing rises above the level of your waist, it is 
very questionable whether it is not often better to shoot them 
“on the wind,’ zeé, advancing on them agazzst this latter. 
True they go straight away, and twist a good deal at starting, but 
they will lie much closer, and if you only let him get his dis- 
tance a Snipe’s twisting at mid-day in India does not matter much, 
and I have “many a time and oft” made good bags, by 
working against the wind, amongst Snipe too wild to let you 
get within shot, when worked with the wind. 
And Snipe out here are zot, as a rule, the birds they are 
at home. A very fair Snipe-shot as a boy, (having been at 
* “¢ Always walk deliberately and slowly, taking short paces ; be ever at the ready; 
learn to fire quickly and sharply, with both eyes open and well in front of the 
object, as soon as the gun can be brought up to the shoulder ; and always fire at a 
bird within distance, however difficult and twisting a chance it may offer. Never 
speak yourself, or allow your attendants to talk, and make as little noise, or splash- 
ing in walking, as possible. Try and mark where birds pitch that have risen some 
distance off, and if a Snipe drops to your shot in thick grass or rushes on walking 
up, throw your handkerchief as nearly as possible over the spot where you think 
the bird fell, before beginning to search ; without such a mark, one is liable un- 
wittingly to wander from the vicinity of the lost bird. 
‘* Walk down wind, with the sun at your back, if possible. As a rule do not 
begin your shooting till the sun is well up, and the air warm. Early in the morn- 
ing the birds will seldom lie well, and by following them about from one spot to 
another you may drive them away altogether ; whereas, if you wait till later, say 
10 o'clock, these same Snipe will afford you excellent sport. Employ the early hours 
of a cold weather morning in Duck-shooting—good Snipe jhils generally hold Duck 
as well. If by yourself, four attendants or coolies are generally sufficient to take 
the field with ; if possible place them all on one flank, so that your attention is 
fixed in one direction, and you are prepared to turn that way only ; whereas if your 
men walk on either side of you, it is doubtful on which side a Snipe may rise, and 
your attention is divided.”—7. H. Baldwin. (In ‘Large and Small Game of Bengal.’) 
‘*7T have noticed that many young sportsmen, and even some old ones, make 
asad mistake when going after Snipe in pouncing upon tke birds in the early 
morning ; nothing spoils a day’s sport like this. The birds are then as wild as they 
can be ; every shot puts them up in whisps, and, favored by the cool morning 
breeze, they will very likely leave the ground altogether. To avoid this. and to 
secure a good bag, it is only necessary to ascertain, first, that birds are abundant, 
and then to leave them in peace and quietness until 10 or 11 A.M. They will then 
have separated and settled down for the day, will lie close and seldom rise 
more than two or three at a time, and what is of equal importance will rarely 
fly far on being disturbed. This is all that sportsmen need to know to have fair 
sport, but a knowledge of the habits of the bird will often be of use. One 
constant peculiarity in the bird is that it zzvariably flies against the wind; in the 
hurry scurry of rising it may start off in any direction, but once fairly on the wing 
it will face the wind. Sportsmen, therefore, who are good at side or cross shots, 
may have them to their heart’s content by walking down the wind. When Snipe are 
wild, and the day is windy, this is in fact the only way of securing even a decent 
bag.” —George Reid, 
