UPLAND SHOOTING. 
213 
Being quite certain that these were new comers, and the 
oiake being a very pretty and easy place in which to get shots, 
and mark birds, I beat it regularly, either going out, or coming 
home, every day during my stay in the country, and bagged 
upon it, in all, sixty-three birds in six successive days. 
This is now very many years ago, but I noted the fact from 
its singularity at the time ; and I have since observed, that in 
certain highly favored places, this may be regularly looked for; 
and I would never recommend a sportsman, shooting late in the 
autumn, particularly after the nights have begun to be frosty, to 
decline trying a likely piece of ground, a second, or even a 
third or fourth time, because he has already swept it clear of 
Woodcock. It does not, of course, follow of all ground whatso¬ 
ever ; but of all that ground which is the most beloved by the 
bird, it is unquestionably true that it will be filled, and refilled, 
many times in succession. 
This is certainly a curious fact, and one for which it is diffi¬ 
cult to account, by any reasonable mode of explanation. The 
succession of so many birds, is in itself singular, it not being at 
all apparent where is the reservoir from which the current is 
supplied. It was not, in the case I have named, from other 
woods in the neighborhood, of slightly inferior excellence, as 
feeding ground, for these were not deserted ; and, if we suppose 
that the fresh supplies came in consecutively from the north¬ 
ward by long flights, how should they have been able to time 
themselves so exactly, as to come on the very nights when the 
haunt was vacant, and at their service ? 
On the other hand, if we adopt the idea that the descent is 
only from the neighboring mountain tops, why should these wait 
patiently until the others were killed off to their hands, instead 
of pouring down into the place in a body, and there remaining 
until the supply of food, which renders it so favorite a haunt, 
should be exhausted ? 
Such, however, is invariably the case in such localities, and I 
never but once in my life observed anything like a flock of these 
birds. That once, in a very wet place, on the edge of a heavy 
