30 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
that ninety-nine sportsmen out of a hundred would 
say the snipe flies faster than the woodcock. 
" I have seen woodcocks give my hawks some 
great long-distance flights before they are over- 
taken and turned ; but a snipe has no show at all 
when trying to keep ahead of a peregrine or 
merlin in straight flight." 
In his letter to the Field already referred to, 
Major Radclyff'e further says : " There is no doubt 
whatever that the heavier bird of similar type is far 
the faster on the wing when once it gets going." 
It was suggested in one of the letters to the 
Field that whilst this is no doubt the general 
rule there is at least one exception to it. "If 
asked," said the writer, " to quote any instance 
when the smaller bu'd is faster than a larger one 
of similar type, I should say that the pochard 
(Fuligula ferina) is faster on the wing than the 
common mallard, as I have seen the former pass 
mallards on the wing when both have been flying 
before a falcon. But from my experience of over 
thirty years as a falconer, a naturalist, and a 
shooter, I should say that the above case is one of 
the rare exceptions where the heaviest bird is not 
the fastest on the wing if each bird is trying its 
hardest and best." 
