THE COMMON OR FANTAIL SNIPE. 365 
it in our Norfolk marshes, from the time I was twelve years 
old,) I flattered myself after the first few seasons here that my 
shooting had vastly improved ; and when later I was returning 
hugged myself in secret with the idea that I would now rather 
show my friends at home how Snipe should be shot. Vain 
delusion !—the very first day on the ronds showed me the 
difference between a Snipe rising ina cold climate, on a dull 
drizzly day with a strong wind blowing, and one rising here in 
India in the hot noontide glare of a still cold season day. There, 
shoot as well as you might, you were bound to miss a lot of 
shots ; continually as you pulled the trigger, justas you thought 
he had settled into the straight running, you saw too late to 
hold your hand, friend Snipe dart off a good yard at right 
angles to his course. Moreover, the pace they go at there 
is far greater than what we are accustomed to see here. If 
any one, who is beginning to think himself a grand Snipe-shot 
out here, wishes to test his probable success at home, let him 
choose some very cold day about X’mas just after the winter 
rains, when there is a sharp, cold wind blowing, dense cloud over 
head and mist around, and shoot his best from 7 to 10 A.M. 
He will then vividly recall the difficulties of Snipe-shooting in 
our beloved native land! 
As a whole, my experience is, that even in India the Fantail 
not only flies somewhat faster and habitually twists more than 
the Pintail, but also that, as a rule, all conditions being equal, 
it lies less close and well. On several occasions near Calcutta, 
where the two species were mixed—and there were only a few 
birds of each—I noticed that the Fantails mostly rose long shots, 
while the Pintails rose within thirty yards; as also that, when 
I fired, all the Fantails near me rose, off ground on which, 
having re-loaded, I still picked up a Pintail or two. It does 
not do to generalize positively from one’s own limited expe- 
rience; but I believe that, if the point be closely looked into, 
and due allowance made for the ever-varying conditions under 
which one is always meeting the two species, the facts will be 
found to be as I say. 
Colonel Tickell says: “ Snipe-shooting in Burma or Arakan 
is a pursuit of pleasure under considerable difficulties. The 
sport is in its prime long before the country has emerged from 
the floods of the rainy monsoon; so that Auceps has to wade 
through paddy fields up to his middle (if not haply higher,) 
and under a sun which blisters his back, before he can make a good 
bag. To a full-blooded man the cold water below, and the hot 
sun above, are a severe trial, especially as full-blooded men are 
generally short-legged. It must be remembered, too, that wading 
in a paddy “khet” is not like wading in a clear salmon stream 
with a smooth, sandy bottom, but demands a struggle at each 
step to wrench your foot out of several inches of mud, and 
another struggle to force your way through the paddy itself ; 
