good sign that he is hit hard. If his legs drop, he is mortally wounded, and will never fly far.

"In some marshes snipes are very wild, rising in wisps, before you can come within range. This generally occurs when the ground is wet, and the birds are sitting upon the little hillocks above the water. In such cases the dog should be tied up, and the sportsman ought to walk them up alone. If this does not succeed, the only chance left is to stand (under cover if possible) at the windward end of the bog, and send the attendant in to leeward, with directions to make as little noise as possible; by this means a few shots may be obtained, and you will have an opportunity of, perhaps, marking some of the birds down in more favourable ground. At all events, there is the chance of meeting them when scattered through the country.

Many an old Irish sportsman will smile at the idea of any person giving directions for finding snipe. Until the last few seasons they have been so numerous, that all he had to do was to walk into the first marsh and blaze away until the light failed, or his ammunition was expended.. What with severe and longcontinued frosts, however, drainage, and other 'dreadful inventions of science,' as one of your correspondents terms agricultural improvements, we are not (except in a few happily situated Alsatias) so sure of a good bag as we were: it may, therefore, be worth the shooter's while to study the habits of these birds. Indeed, every sportsman ought to be something of a ‘field naturalist,' as it gives him an additional enjoyment in his favourite sport.

"The state of the weather is, I believe, the great clue to the haunts of the snipe, their delicate organization making them peculiarly sensitive to atmospheric influences. At the first breath of the autumn frosts, those birds which have been bred upon the mountains leave their summer quarters, and come down to the vast bogs which still abound in some parts of our island. Here they are soon joined by their comrades from Scotland and the North of Europe, who rapidly recover from the effects of their long flight; and from that time forward, until the arrival of spring scatters them again, their life is one constant succession of changes from one part of the country to another, moving towards the sea-shore, the mountains, or inland, according as the season is mild or severe.

"In very mild wet weather, snipe leave the bogs and return to the mountains, where it is scarcely worth the sportsman's while to follow them. With a good dog, however, fair sport can be had at such times by beating rushy coarse pastures and heathery uplands, where he will be sure to find a considerable number of outlying birds. In this description of ground they lie well to a dog, and are much easier to shoot than in the bogs, where the unsteadiness of footing makes it difficult to take accurate aim.

"I have always found northerly winds with hail showers the best weather for the marshes. The hail drives the birds down from the mountains, collects them together, and makes them unwilling to rise. In white frosts they are generally wild, though numerous; in hard black frosts they assemble in wisps

about the margin of unfrozen springs, along the borders of streams, or in marshes near the shore. Bent grass is also a favourite haunt at such times, as frost has seldom any effect upon it. Should the severe weather continue, they take to the plantations like woodcocks, to furze covers on southern slopes, and to the rocks on the shore.

"Snipe are very restless at night, but, unless disturbed, seldom move in the daytime. During bright moonlight nights they travel a great deal, and are fond of feeding on the sea-shore. Walking along the coast at such times, I have put them up in dozens, and even in daylight have shot them on a strand. In beating a marsh near the sea I have always been least successful when the tide was out, which I could only account for by the supposition that the birds were then feeding upon the strand.

"In some districts in Ireland there are what are called black and red bogs. The sportsman will sometimes find them in one and sometimes in the other, never in both together. I cannot account for this, as the weather does not appear to be the cause; at least, I could not observe any marked change.

"Almost any dog can be trained to set snipe. Water spaniels and Newfoundlands have been known to do it; and I once shot for part of a season over a little Dinmont terrier. But the dog of all dogs for that sport-or indeed any sport-is the old Irish setter, when he can be got pure. Handsome, courageous, hardy, and delighting in water, he is (as an old gamekeeper remarked to me once) 'a companion for any gentleman.' The dropper is also

a capital dog for general purposes in a wet country. One of the finest animals I ever saw of this kind was the produce of a cross between a Russian and a smooth pointer. They are, however, difficult to train, and curiously ugly. The smooth pointer should never be used in snipe-shooting. They have a natural dislike to the water, and, although their high breeding and courage make them disregard it when in pursuit of game, any one who has seen them cowering at their master's heels after a hard day's work on a cold wintry day cannot but feel compassion for these noble animals.

"In training dogs for snipe-shooting they should be broken as much as possible to 'hand.' Shouting or talking in a bog ought always to be avoided; more birds will be sprung in that way than by the report of the gun. No dog that splashes through the water, or with bad feet, should be used for snipe. It is in his peculiar style of going that the old Irish setter shows his superiority to all other dogs for this sport; not pottering or plowtering among the reeds, like a tame drake, but moving through the marsh with a long, light, stealthy pace, like a panther in search of prey.

"The system of training dogs in Ireland is, generally speaking, very bad,-in fact, cannot well be worse. Three guineas and a hundred-weight of meal is the usual charge; and for this you will get plenty of so-called gamekeepers and trainers willing to undertake the duty. I do not object to the price, which is moderate enough, if the duty was properly performed; but do object, and very strongly, to the fact that not one grain of the

meal ever finds its way to the stomach of the unfortunate animal for whose benefit it was ostensibly bought. This would not suit the trainer's purpose, whose object is to return him 'broken' in the shortest possible time (and broken he certainly is, with a vengeance). This can only be accomplished by fasting and flagellation, and accordingly both are put liberally in requisition; the former by leaving the dog entirely to his own resources, when the chances are, he takes to killing his own mutton; and the latter, by the unsparing use of the whip, or the butt end of the gun, according as his master is drunk or out of temper. The consequences may easily be anticipated. Should he survive this treatment, he is returned at the end of three months, thoroughly cowed and heart-broken, and in such a state of starvation that his owner will have some difficulty in recognising his favourite. Should he succeed in getting once more into condition, it will be found that he has forgotten all he ever learned under the former system, and will require to be trained over again.

"I would therefore recommend the sportsman, if he can spare time, by all means to break his own dogs. If he succeeds, and a little patience and temper are all that is required to make success certain, he will be amply repaid, for a dog works far better for the man who trains him than for any one else. A sort of mutual understanding springs up between them; the dog gets into his master's ways, and a look or a gesture is sufficient to make him comprehend his meaning. Better this, surely, than the constant rating and flagellations which make it positively