File:Reptiles and birds - a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting (1869) (14768660103).jpg

Identifier: reptilesbirdspop00figu (find matches)
Title: Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting
Year: 1869 (1860s)
Authors: Figuier, Louis, 1819-1894 Gillmore, Parker
Subjects: Birds Reptiles
Publisher: Springfield, Mass. : W.J. Holland
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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hat theyare sought after with an eagerness that no obstacle seems to dis-courage. One can scarcely imagine the pitch of enthusiasm someof our sportsmen possess for pursuit of the Woodcock. Theywill walk for ten or twelve hours in the miid, leave shreds oftheir garments hanging on every bush and bramble they pass,exercise all their ingenuity in manoeuvring and cunning, and, asa recompense for all these exertions, not discouraged, perhaps findthe bird flown. This is a short compendium of the resultsoften enjoyed in seeking this woodland denizen. The chief difficulty in pursuing these birds is, first, to find them,and then to make them flush. Hidden motionless and mute inthe thickest bushes, they emit but very little scent to catch thenose of the dog, which ranges about in every direction, dis-heartened with such laborious and often unprofitable work. Aftera long trial of patience and perseverance, scratched and torn bythorns and briers, the slightest taint on the air tells the secret—
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THE SNIPE. 343 tlie dog draws. As soon as tlie sportsman sees or knows thathis dog is pointing at the game, he advances quietly, andjudging as well as he can of the locality of the bird, places him-self in the best position for firing when it flushes (Fig. 131). Ifhe misses his aim, all he has to do is to follow up, for it is likelyenough to drop again only a short distance off. Still the labourto force the game to take wing a second time is not less arduousthan heretofore. Both man and dog are often put on the wrongscent by the turns, twists, and circuits of their tracks, and all theother tricks of concealment with which this bird is familiar. If atlast the Woodcock succumbs, it will not be till it has thoroughlyfatigued its persecutors. In Brittany, some years ago. Woodcocks were so commonthat the inhabitants were in the habit of catching them withnets in the following singular way:—Two men went out toge-ther at night, one carrying a lantern, the other a small netfastened at the e

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