Chapter XL: Part 40

As shots in the field, at game, Mr. Jenkins, near Petworth, Sussex, and Cottingham, who was formerly gamekeeper to Lord Roos, are perhaps the best. The former has killed twenty brace of partridges in a day, at forty shots, without selecting the shots, but took them fairly as they happened; and in four days’ shooting, has never missed. The latter I was out with when he killed, in two days, forty-three successive shots (many of them in covert) at partridge, pheasant, woodcock, and hare; and his style of shooting, when open, and he could give time, was most regularly deliberate.

* * * * *

Should different guns be employed, the shooter should have all the locks made, if possible, to require exactly the same pull to bring them to action; there is nothing deceives or disconcerts him more than shooting one day with a stiff, and the next with an easy going lock; the transition from that which goes off with a slight, to that where a hard touch is necessary, will often cause the most expert to miss his bird.

* * * * *

If a rival shooter (some stranger) races to get before you, push him hard for a long time, always letting him have rather the advantage, and then give him the double without his seeing you. Having done this, go quietly round (supposing you have been beating up wind); and, on reaching the place where you began, work closely and steadily the whole of the ground or covert that you have both been racing over, and you will be sure to kill more game than him, who is beating and shooting in haste, through fear of your getting up to him; and (if the wind should rise) driving the dispersed, and consequently closest lying birds to your beat, as fast as he finds them.

* * * * *

Beware of the muzzle of the gun being kept hanging downwards; when so carried, the shot is apt to force its way from the powder, especially in clean barrels; if it happens that a space of sixteen or eighteen inches is thus obtained, and the gun fired with its point below the horizon, it is ten to one but the barrel bursts. There are other perilous consequences besides those that generally accompany the disruption of a barrel, for the men, horses, and dogs, are in perpetual danger of being shot when a gun is carried in the before-mentioned pendent manner.

* * * * *

When a gun begins to exhibit symptoms of having done its work, the sooner a man discards it the better. An injured barrel or enfeebled lock may prove fatal to the owner or his associates. Accidents every day occur, and very lamentable consequences proceed, from a culpable neglect in retaining arms which should be declared unserviceable and disused.

I had once a favourite gun, which from constant wear and tear exhibited unequivocal weakness in the locks, and which I had been earnestly recommended by a veteran sportsman to condemn. On a cold and rainy day, I was with my friend O’M——, shooting woodcocks in the heath, and having sprung several, which from the severity of the weather were wild as hawks, we marked them into a ravine, and determined to tie up the dogs and endeavour to steal upon them. To keep my gun dry I placed it under the skirt of my jacket, with the muzzle pointing downwards. My companion and our attendant were busy coupling the dogs, when the gun exploded, and the charge passing between O’M——’s bosom and the back of a dog he was in the act of securing, buried itself at the foot of the keeper, covering him with mud and gravel. From the close manner in which we were all grouped, how the shot could have entered the ground without killing men or dogs, or both, was miraculous. I was desperately frightened, and from that moment forswore for ever, the use of weakened locks and attenuated barrels.

* * * * *

In March, 1799, Sir John Swinborne, having flashed off his gun, which was single barrelled with a patent antechambered breech, proceeded to the dog-kennel; in his opinion, at least five minutes must have elapsed before he began to load; having primed, he poured the charge from the top of the flask into the barrel, when the whole copper flask, containing nearly a pound of gunpowder, instantly exploded. A large piece of copper struck the right eye, and injured the bone above, so that it continued to exfoliate for two years. The lock remained at half bent, and it cannot be doubted that some tow, which had been left in the barrel or chamber, continued on fire from the time of flashing off, and occasioned the misfortune.

In every instance but one, where the particulars have been ascertained, of the numerous accidents of the above description, the explosion has happened upon the second time of pouring powder into the barrel on that day; which is strong evidence of the cause here suggested.

* * * * *

The following sporting precepts may be serviceable to inexperienced shooters:—

First—If you or your dog should, at any time, get a severe blow, let the wounded part be instantly fomented with water, as hot as can be borne, for at least half an hour, and you will thereby reduce your suffering, or impediment from sport, to at least half its duration.

Secondly—If you burn yourself in shooting, or otherwise, wrap the part affected immediately in cotton, the application of which, it has been proved, acts like magic with a burn.

Thirdly—If you should take cold, bathe your feet in hot water; if a little salt or bran is, or both are, added, so much the better. Get into a bed warmed, with a little brown sugar sprinkled on the coals, and take some whey, or whatever you can get to promote perspiration.

Fourthly—Never fast too long, and avoid, whenever you can, fagging too hard.

Fifthly—Never go out with quite an empty stomach, to wait for wild fowl, particularly in the morning. Should you wish to start before any one is up, you might always have left for you over night, a crust of bread, or a biscuit, with a glass of milk, which, with a little sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and the yolk of an egg, may be good in a moment, and this is better than what is called a “doctor,” (rum and milk), because you then dispense with taking spirit in a morning, the very bad habit of which, should always be avoided, except in a country where the chances of ague might justify your taking a little purl.

Sixthly—Never sit down in wet feet, or with wet clothes on any part of your body, but, if a change is not at hand, keep in motion, or go to bed, till one can be procured. Or, if you want to start again, when refreshed, first wet your feet with either spirits or essence of mustard, and then be as quick as possible in taking your refreshment. Many people prefer applying the spirit to the inside, instead. This is not so well, because spirit alone always flies to the head, while strong beer, on the contrary, would warm the body.

I shall here conclude, under this head, with the _multum in parvo_ advice of the great Dr. Boerhaave; keep the body open, the head cool, and the feet warm.—_Hawker_—_Daniel_—_Wild Sports._

SHOOTER, _s._ One who shoots; an archer, a gunner.

SHORTWINGED, _a._ Having short wings. So hawks are divided into long
and short winged.

SHOT, _s._ The act of shooting; the flight of a shot; the charge of
a gun; bullets or small pellets for the charge of a gun;
anything discharged from a gun, or other instrument; a sum
charged, a reckoning.

_Shot._—The choice of this article is highly worthy of the sportsman’s care. It should be equal, round, and void of cavities. The patent milled shot is, at this time, to be preferred to all other sorts, and is in such general use, that the instructions which here follow on the size of shot to be adopted in the different chases, must be understood to relate to the patent shot only.

The difference, however, which subsists between the sizes of patent and of common shot, will be hereafter shown by means of a table, denoting the number of pellets contained in a given weight of each, so that in cases where the former cannot be procured, it will be easy to adopt the rules there laid down, to the latter, by only taking the same number of grains in the common, as directed to be used for the patent shot.

It is extremely important for the success of the chase, that the sportsman should proportion the size of his shot, as well to the particular species of game he means to pursue, as the season of killing it. Thus in the first month of partridge-shooting, shot No. 1, should be used; for since, at this time, the birds spring near at hand, and we seldom fire at more than the distance of forty yards, if the shooter takes his aim but tolerably well, it is almost impossible for a bird at this distance to escape in the circle or disk which the shot forms.

Hares also, at this season of the year, sit closer, and being at the same time thinly covered with fur, may easily be killed with this sized shot at thirty or thirty-five paces.

In snipe and quail-shooting this sized shot is peculiarly proper, for, in using a larger size, however true the sportsman may shoot, yet he will frequently miss, the objects being so small that they have great chance of escaping in the vacant spaces of the circle or disk. Yet there are many sportsmen who shoot snipes, quails, and fieldfares, in countries where they abound, with the sizes six and seven of the common shot, the last of which is called mustard-seed.

About the beginning of October, at which time the partridges are stronger in the wing, No. 3 is the proper shot to be used. This size seems to be the best of any; it preserves a proper medium between shot too large and that which is too small, and will kill a hare from the distance of thirty-five or forty paces, and a partridge at fifty, provided the powder be good. It will serve also for rabbit-shooting. In short, it is excellent for all seasons, and many sportsmen use no other the season round.

It is true that distant objects are frequently missed for want of large shot, but then these bear no proportion to the number that are daily missed, by using shot of too large a size, especially with the feathered game. If a man was to shoot constantly with shot number five, for one partridge which he might chance to kill with a single pellet at the distance of eighty paces, he would miss twenty birds at eighty paces, which would in such case escape in the vacant spaces of the circle. But if the sportsman expressly purposes to shoot wild ducks or hares, then indeed he had better use the number five. However, in shooting with a double barrel gun, it may be prudent to load one of the barrels with large shot for the necessary occasions, and if in any case large shot is required, number five will be found to be better than any other, for its size is not so large as to prevent it from garnishing or being equally spread in the circle, and it can at the same time perform, in effect, all that a larger sized shot can do, which garnishes but very little, if any at all.

In order, therefore, to show clearly, and at one view, the comparative difference in garnishing of shot of different sizes, we here subjoin a table which indicates the number of pellets precisely composing an ounce weight of each sort of shot, the patent and the common, commencing at the smallest size in each.

PATENT SHOT.

Pellets.
No. 8 1 ounce 620
7 — 480
+ — 300
1 — 220
2 — 180
3 — 157
4 — 105
5 — 83

COMMON SHOT.

Pellets.
No. 7 1 ounce 350
6 — 260
5 — 235
4 — 190
3 — 140
2 — 110
1 — 95

Shot compared according to Hawker:—

MOULD SHOT.

No. of pellets to 1 oz.
L G 5½
M G hardly 9
S G 1
S S G 15
S S S G 17

PATENT SHOT.

No. of pellets to 1 oz.
A A 40
A 50
B B 58
B 75
1 82
2 112
3 135
4 177
5 218
6 280
7 341
8 600
9 984
10 1726

The pleasure of using and counting the dust shot I leave to those who recommend it.

The shot of different manufacturers varies much in size: for example, an ounce of No. 7, from Messrs. Walker and Parker, amounts to 341 pellets; and the same weight, from Mr. Beaumont (late Preston), 398; and in some places the numbers are reversed.

Many sportsmen recommend the use of unglazed shot; others wet their shot with oil. I have tried both these plans repeatedly, but could not find sufficient advantage in either to justify my recommending them. The object of both is to prevent the gun from leading; and as they can do no harm, I should if a choice readily offered, prefer using the shot unglazed, or oiled, for the chances of any trifling advantages which may be thereby derived.

* * * * *

If I mistake not, you are shooting grouse with No. 4.

_Agilis._ I was told that so large a bird required large shot.

_Peritus._ No doubt there is greater difficulty in reaching a vital part through a large opposing substance than a small one; but you must remember that at this season the whole plumage of birds has not yet grown, the muscles and sinews are not yet so strong and firm as they will be; and the flight of all birds is slower than in winter; on such account I would use much smaller shot now than later in the season; and indeed you will find sevens now as efficient as fours will be in two months’ time. You must remember that to bring down a bird you must either strike it in a vital part, or impede its flight, and the fewer the shots that strike, the less likely you are to attain that object. I once fired a small bullet through a black cock, and he flew so far that he was only found by accident afterwards. But I will repeat to you my ideas as to the sizes of shot best calculated both for England and Scotland, as we are upon the subject:—

Partridge, hare.—From September 1 to October 1, No. 7.

Partridge, hare, woodcock, rabbit, pheasant.—From October 1 to the end of the season, No. 6.

Ducks.—No. 5 or 4.

Roe deer.—B B at all times.

Grouse—From August 12 to September 1, No. 7; from September 1 to September 25, No. 6; from September 25 to the end of the season, No. 5.

Black game.—From August 20 to September 1, No. 7; from September 1 to September 10, No. 6; from September 1 to October 10, No. 5; from October 10 to the end of the season, No. 4 or 5, as the gun may shoot close or scatter: if it scatter, the smaller shot of the two.

* * * * *

The greater or lesser diameter of the bore cannot produce any sensible difference in the closeness or wideness with which the shot is thrown, provided the charge he the same in both pieces. We have subjected this matter to the test of experiment, and the result has accordingly been that a barrel of 22 or 24, which is the largest calibre usually employed in fowling-pieces, threw its shot as closely as one of the smallest calibre, viz. of 30 or 32.

There is a curious circumstance attending the shot of barrels, which is, that sometimes the grains of lead, instead of being equally distributed over the space they strike, are thrown in clusters of ten, twelve, fifteen, or more, whilst several considerable spaces have not a single grain in them; sometimes a cluster of this kind consists of one-third or one-half of the charge, and it also happens sometimes, though more rarely, that the whole charge collects itself into one mass, so as to pierce a board near an inch thick, at the distance of forty or forty-five paces. Small barrels are said to be more liable to this than large ones, and M. de Marolles says that this is especially the case when barrels are new, and when they are fresh washed. He mentions a double-barrelled piece of 52 calibre, which was particularly liable to this clustering and lumping of the shot, but adds that the same thing did not happen to him with other barrels of 26 and 28 calibre, which he had used before. The lumping also may perhaps depend upon the wadding employed.

With regard, then, to the extraordinary closeness with which some pieces are said to throw the shot, we certainly shall not take it upon us to assert that persons who speak of them wish to deceive us; but we do most firmly believe that they deceive themselves, and that their accounts proceed either from their belief that a gunsmith, by superior skill and care, is able to make such, or from their once having seen a piece accidentally lump its shot in the manner described above. The result of our experience, however, is very unfavourable to this prevailing opinion, for we do affirm that after having fired at a mark times without number, we have never yet found a barrel, which, at the distance of fifty paces, would throw its whole charge with regularity, we will not say into the breadth of a hat, but into a space of three feet square.

* * * * *

_Patent Shot._—It is a fact stated to have been determined by repeated observation, that a bird killed with patent shot will turn green twenty-four hours sooner than one killed at the same time with the common shot; and this accelerated putrefaction is said to arise from the quantity of copperas used in preparing the lead for this particular manufacture.—_Essay on Shooting_—_Hawker_—_Hints to Grown Sportsmen._

_Shot Belt._—Always have the tops of your shot belts made to fit nicely into the muzzle of your gun; by which means, in the process of drawing your charge, you can empty your shot into them without losing a grain.—_Hawker._

SHOTTEN, _a._ Having ejected the spawn.

SHOVELBOARD, _s._ A long board on which they play by sliding metal
pieces at a mark.

SHOUGH, _s._ A kind of shaggy dog, a shock.

SHOULDER, _s._ The joint which connects the arm to the body; the
upper joint of the foreleg of a beast; the upper part of the
back; the shoulders are used as emblems of strength.

SHOULDERBELT, _s._ A belt that comes across the shoulder.

SHOULDERSHOTTEN, _a._ Strained in the shoulder.

SHOULDERSLIP, _s._ Dislocation of the shoulder.

SHOVELLER, _s._ A bird of the duck tribe.

_Blue Wing Shoveller, Kertlucock, or Broad Bill_ (_Anas Clypeata_, LINN.; _Le Souchet_, BUFF.)—The shoveller is less than the wild duck, commonly weighing about twenty-two ounces, and measuring twenty-one inches in length. The bill is black, three inches long, very broad or spread out, and rounded like a spoon at the end, with the nail hooked inward, and small.

The female is smaller than the male, from which she also differs greatly in the colours of her plumage, the coverts and spangle-spot on her wings being less brilliant, and the other parts composed of white, grey, and rusty, crossed with curved dusky lines, giving her much the appearance of the common wild duck. She makes her nest, lined with withered grasses, on the ground, in the midst of the largest tufts of rushes or coarse herbage, in the most inaccessible parts of the shaky marsh. She lays ten or twelve pale, rusty-coloured eggs; and as soon as the young are hatched, they are conducted to the water by the parent birds, who watch and guard them with the greatest care.

They are at first very shapeless and ugly, for the bill is then almost as broad as the body, and seems too great a weight for the little bird to carry. Their plumage does not acquire its full colours until after the second moult.

It has not yet been ascertained whether the shoveller breeds in England, where, indeed, it is a scarce bird.

This species is of so wild, shy, and solitary a disposition, that all attempts hitherto made to domesticate them have failed.

The anas muscaria of Linnæus (_Le Souchet à ventre blanc_ of Brisson) differs only from this in having the belly white, and is considered merely as a variety of the same species.

_Red-breasted Shoveler._—Size of a common duck. This species is sometimes taken in the decoys of Lincolnshire.—_Bewick._

SHREWMOUSE, _s._ A mouse of which the bite was anciently supposed
venomous.

SHRILL, _a._ Sounding with a piercing, tremulous, or vibratory
sound.

SHRIMP, _s._ A small crustaceous vermiculated fish; a little
wrinkled man, a dwarf.

SHRUB, _s._ A small tree; spirit, acid, and sugar, mixed.

SHUFFLECAP, _s._ A play at which money is shaken in a hat.

SHUTTLECOCK, _s._ A cork stuck with feathers, and beaten backward
and forward.

SHY, _a._ Cautious; keeping at a distance, unwilling to approach.

SICKLY, _a._ Not healthy, disordered; faint, weak, languid.

SIDESADDLE, _s._ A woman’s seat on horseback.

SIEVE, _s._ Hair or lawn strained upon a hoop, by which flour is
separated from bran; an implement to winnow corn.

SIFT, _v._ To separate by a sieve; to separate, to part.

SIGHT, _s._ Perception by the eye, the sense of seeing; act of
seeing or beholding; eye, instrument of seeing; aperture
pervious to the eye, or other points fixed to guide the eye, as
the sight of a quadrant, gun, &c.

SILICIOUS, _a._ Made of hair.

SILKEN, _a._ Made of silk; soft, dressed in silk.

SILVER, _s._ A white and hard metal, next in weight to gold. It is
harder but not so malleable: it ignites before it melts, and
requires intense heat to fuse it.

SILVER, _a._ Made of silver; white like silver; having a pale
lustre; soft of voice.

SINEW, _s._ A tendon, the ligament by which the joints are moved.

SINEWED, _a._ Furnished with sinews; strong, firm, vigorous.

SINEWY, _a._ Consisting of a sinew; nervous, strong, vigorous.

SIPHON, _s._ A pipe through which liquors are conveyed.

SIRE, _s._ A father; it is used of beasts, and particularly horses.

SITTER, _s._ One that sits; a bird that broods.

SIZE, _s._ Bulk, comparative magnitude; condition; any viscous or
glutinous substance.

SKATE, _s._ A flat sea fish; a sort of shoe armed with iron, for
sliding on the ice.

SKEGGER, _s._ Skeggers are the produce of such sick salmon as might
not go to sea.

SKEIN, _s._ A knot or thread of silk wound; a knot of gimp or gut.

SKIN, _s._ The natural covering of the flesh; hide, pelt, that which
is taken from animals to make parchment or leather.

SKIN, _v._ To flay or divest of the skin.

SKIRT, _v._ To border, to go along the edge, as to skirt a cover.

SKITTISH, _a._ Shy, easily frighted; wanton, volatile; changeable,
fickle.

SKITTLE, _s._ A piece of wood like a sugar loaf used in the play of
skittles.

SKITTLES, _s._ A game called ninepins.

SKUA (_Lestris catarractes_, TEMMINCK), _s._ A species of eagle.

This species is rather superior in size to the raven; weight three pounds; length two feet; the bill is an inch and three quarters long, black, and much hooked at the end; is covered, for more than half its length, with a kind of black cere; the upper part of the head, neck, back, and wings, deep brown; the feathers margined with ferruginous; about the forehead and chin tinged with ash-colour; the breast, and all beneath, pale dusky ferruginous; the quills are brown, white at the base; tail deep brown; roots and shafts white; the legs are black, rough, and scaly; talons black, strong, and much hooked.

This is a bold rapacious bird, and preys on the lesser gulls, as well as fish; it is said to attack the eagle, and even man, if he approaches their nest. It breeds in the Orkney Islands, and is much esteemed in the Isle of Foulah, from a supposition that it defends the flocks from the eagle: it is rarely seen in the south. One in the museum of Dr. Latham, was killed at Greenwich; and the only other instance we are furnished with, of this species being observed in the south of England, was shot at Sandwich, in Kent, in the winter of 1800.—_Montagu._

SKULK, _v._ To hide, to lurk in fear or malice.

SKULL, _s._ The bone that encloses the head; a shoal of fishes,
herrings particularly.

SKYCOLOUR, _s._ An azure colour, the colour of the sky.

SKYLARK (_Alauda arvensis_, LINN.), _s._ A lark that mounts and
sings.

The length of this species is seven inches; bill dusky; the base of the upper mandible yellowish; the feathers on the top of the head are dusky, bordered with rufous brown; they are rather long, and erectable in form of a short crest; the hind part is plain, inclining to ash-colour; on the upper parts of the body the feathers are reddish brown, darker in their middle, their edges pale; the under parts are dirty buff-colour, darkest on the neck and breast, which parts are streaked with dusky; quills brown, lighter on the outer webs and tips; the tail is dusky brown, the two middle feathers darkest, with light rufous margins; the outer feather is white on the outer web and tip of the inner; the second feather white on the outer web only; the third is inclining to white on the margin of the outer web; legs dusky in old birds, but lighter in young; claws dusky; the hind one very long and straight.

This bird is common in the greater part of this kingdom, but most plentiful in the more open and highest cultivated situations abounding with corn, and rarely seen on the extended moors at a distance from arable land. The nest is placed on the ground, amongst grass or corn; it is formed of dry grass and other vegetable stalks, lined with a fine dry grass.—_Montagu._

SKYROCKET, _s._ A kind of firework, which flies high, and burns as
it flies.

SLAM, _v._ To win all the tricks in a hand at whist.

SLAVER, _s._ To be smeared with spittle; to emit spittle.

SLED, _s._ A carriage drawn without wheels, generally used upon the
ice.

SLEDGE, _s._ A large heavy hammer; a carriage without wheels, or
with very low wheels.

SLEEK, _a._ Smooth, glossy; the state of a horse’s or dog’s skin
when in condition.

SLEEP, _s._ Repose, rest, suspension of the mental powers, slumber.

_Sleep of Birds._—Like horses and some other quadrupeds, a great number of birds sleep standing; the perchers, (_Insessores_, VIGORS,) for example, usually sleep standing on one leg upon some tree, bush, or other elevation, with the head turned behind, and the bill thrust under the feathers on the back, or under the wing. Indeed, these appear to be the general habits of the whole race of birds, in regard to their mode of resting and sleep; for the duck and goose, although they do not perch, will frequently sleep standing on one leg upon the ground, with their heads turned round, and the bills under the wing. Poultry, although they invariably perch, if a perch can be obtained, do not, when sleeping, rest usually on one leg; but they sink down with their bodies upon the perch, having their legs compressed under them. The sky lark sleeps upon the ground with his legs also similarly compressed. It is probable also that all the tribes of birds, even the perchers, occasionally sink down with their bodies resting on the perch during their soundest sleep. What is very remarkable in the structure of their feet and legs is, that the greater the weight upon the muscles, the more firmly the claws grasp whatever they lay hold of; hence the cause that birds do not fall down in sleep, although most of their senses are dormant.

The motion of the branches of trees produced by the wind increases, doubtless, the disposition for sleep in many birds; this may be exemplified in the common fowl; for placing its bill under the wing, even in broad day-light, and swaying it to and fro in the hand for a very short time, will produce sleep. Most of the tribe of birds sleep during the night; but there are many exceptions to this. Owls in particular are, during the night, much more active than in the day; their sight, similar to that of cats, appears to serve them best in the dark. Many of the duck tribe are not only wakeful, but feed during the night; so also do the nightjars. The nightingale, and a few other song-birds, are also wakeful while in song, during at least some portion of the night.—_Montagu._

SLIME, _s._ Viscous mire, any glutinous substance.

SLIMY, _a._ Overspread with slime; viscous, glutinous, as the skin
of an eel.

SLING, _s._ A missile weapon made by a strap; a kind of hanging
bandage.

SLING, _v._ To throw by a sling; to throw, to cast; to hang loosely
by a string; the strap attached to a rifle, and used by the
marksman to steady his aim when a rest is not to be had.

SLIP, _v._ To let loose; to throw off anything that holds one; to
unloose a greyhound.

SLIP, _s._ The act of slipping, a false step; mistake; a twig torn
from the main stock; a leash or string in which a dog is held;
an escape; a long narrow piece.

SLIPKNOT, _s._ A bow knot, a knot easily untied.

SLOOP, _s._ A small ship.

SLOT, _s._ The track of a deer.

SLOUGH, _s._ A deep miry place; the skin which a serpent casts off
at his periodical renovation; the part that separates from a
foul sore.

SLOW, _a._ Not swift, not quick of motion; late, not happening in a
short time; not ready, not quick; dull, inactive.

SLUG, _s._ An idler, a drone; a kind of slow creeping snail; a
cylindrical or oval piece of metal shot from a gun.

SMELL, _v._ To perceive by the nose; to find out by mental sagacity.

SMELL, _s._ Power of smelling; the sense of which the nose is the
organ; scent.

SMELT, _s._ A small sea fish. It is of the salmon species, and in
the spawning season ascends the rivers in great numbers.

The smelt derives its name from having, in the opinion of some, the scent of a violet, of others, that of a cucumber; they are met with in the seas that wash our coasts the whole year, and seldom go far from shore, except when they ascend the rivers, which they do with the tide; and in certain of which it is remarked, that they appear a long time before they spawn, being taken in abundance in the Thames and Dee in November and two succeeding months; in other rivers not until February, and in March and April they spawn, and are very prolific; after which they all return to the salt water, and are not seen in the rivers until the next season. It has been observed, that they never come into the Mersey so long as there is any snow water in its current; and that in the spring and beginning of summer they will run further up than in the decline of the year; they are also to be met with in the docks that are opened for the reception of ships. The smelt is of a very beautiful form and colour, the head is transparent, and the skin in general so thin that with a good microscope the circulation of its blood may be seen; the irides are silvery, the pupil of a full black, the under jaw is rather prominent, in the front of the upper are four large teeth, those in the sides of both are small; in the roof of the mouth are two rows, and on the tongue two others of large teeth; the colour of the back is whitish, with a cast of green, beneath which it is varied with blue, and then succeeds a beautiful gloss of a silvery hue; the scales are small and readily drop off; the tail is forked; the flesh is tender, and of a delicate taste. These fish vary greatly in size, the largest Mr. P. ever heard of was thirteen inches long, and weighed half a pound; they are often sold in the London streets under the name of dried sparlings, being split and dried, and are recommended by the gentlemen who take their gills of a morning, as adding to the wine a particular relish.

The smelt is to be angled for (when the tide runs up is preferable) with a paternoster line, having five or six hooks as many inches from each other, and baited differently. The best bait is very small fresh shrimps (not boiled), or the tail of a boiled one; next to these are gentles and red paste; also that made of boiled shrimps, fine white bread, and a little honey; cadis, blood-worms; and they will sometimes take a bit of their own species; some crumbs of bread steeped in water should be now and then thrown in to keep them together.

Walton mentions, that, many years since, in the month of August, such vast quantities of smelts came up the Thames, that women and children became anglers for them; and that in one day, between London bridge and Greenwich, not fewer than 2,000 persons were thus employed.

SMERLIN, _s._ A fish.

SMITH, _s._ One who forges with his hammer; one who works in metals.

SMITHY, _s._ The workshop of a smith.

SNAFFLE, _s._ A bridle which crosses the nose; a kind of bit for a
bridle.

SNAFFLE, _v._ To bridle, to hold in bridle, to manage.

SNAKE, _s._ A serpent of the oviparous kind, distinguished from the
viper. The snake’s bite is harmless.

SNAP, _v._ To break at once; to break short; to bite; to catch
suddenly and unexpectedly.

SNAP, _s._ The act of breaking with a quick motion; a quick eager
bite; a catch.

SNAPPISH, _a._ Eager to bite; peevish; sharp in reply.

SNARE, _s._ Anything set to catch an animal, a gin, a net; anything
by which one is entrapped or entangled. The wire by which hares
and rabbits are poached; horsehair loops to take small birds.

SNARE, _v._ To entrap, to entangle.

SNARL, _v._ To growl, as an angry animal.

SNET, _s. obs._ The fat of a deer.

SNIPE, _s._ A small fen fowl with a long bill.

The weight of this species is about four ounces; length near twelve inches; the bill three inches long, dusky; in some the base is lighter, flattish, and rough at the end; irides dusky; crown of the head black, with a longitudinal light rufous line down the middle; from the base of the upper mandible another line of the same colour passes on each side over the eyes; between the bill and eye is a dusky line; the throat white; cheeks, neck, and upper breast, mottled with black and light ferruginous; the back and scapulars are black, barred with ferruginous-brown, and striped with yellowish buff-colour, in longitudinal lines; the quills are black, the first edged with white; the secondaries tipped with the same; those next the body are, with their coverts, striated, and barred with light ferruginous; lower breast and belly white; vent brown; upper tail coverts brown, barred with black; the tail consists of fourteen black feathers, barred and spotted with dull orange-red towards the end, with a narrow bar of black near the tip, where it is pale rufous; legs vary; in some dusky or lead-colour, others green.

This is a plentiful species in most parts of England; and is found in all situations, in high as well as low lands, depending much on the weather. In very wet times it resorts to the hills; at other times frequents marshes, where it can penetrate its bill into the earth after worms, which are its principal food.

Some few remain with us the whole year, and breed in the more extensive marshes and mountainous bogs. We have frequently taken the young before they could fly, in the north of England, and in Scotland. Near Penryn, in Cornwall, there is a marsh where several breed annually, and where we have taken their eggs, which are four in number, of an olivaceous colour, blotched and spotted with rufous-brown; some with dusky blotches at the larger end. The nest is made of the materials around it; coarse grass, and sometimes heath. It is placed on a stump or dry spot, near a plash or swampy place; the eggs like those of the lapwing, placed invariably with their ends inwards, being much pointed; their weight three drachms and a half.

In the breeding season, the snipe changes its note entirely from that it makes in the winter. The male will keep on wing for an hour together, mounting like a lark, uttering a shrill, piping noise; it then descends with great velocity, making a bleating sound, not unlike an old goat, which is repeated alternately round the spot possessed by the female, especially while she is sitting on her nest. This bird has been met with in almost every part of the world.

_Great Snipe_, (_Scolopa Media_).—Size between the woodcock and snipe; weight eight ounces; length sixteen inches; bill four inches long, and like that of the woodcock; crown of the head black, divided down the middle by a pale stripe; over and beneath each eye another of the same; the upper part of the body very like the common snipe; beneath white; the feathers edged with dusky black on the neck, breast, and sides; and those of the belly spotted with the same, but the middle of it is plain white; quills dusky; tail reddish, the two middle feathers plain, the others barred with black; legs black. He adds, “this is a rare species.” A fine specimen of it was shot in Lancashire, now in the Leverian Museum, said also to have been met with in Kent.

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There are a good many snipes in the vicinity of that place; the marshes, however, frequented by those birds, are not very extensive, and may easily be hunted in much less than a day; but if a person be well acquainted with the ground, better snipe shooting is hardly to be met with in any country. As a proof of this, I have bagged upwards of thirty brace of those birds in seven or eight hours. These were either the common or double snipe, as I was careless of wasting my powder and shot about the jack or half snipe.

The double or solitary snipe, I usually found singly, or at most in pairs. They were generally so fat as hardly to be able to fly; indeed, if flushed, their flight was usually very short, and they presently settled again. They were nearly twice as large as the common snipe, and from their heavy and steady flight they presented the easiest mark possible. They are considered to be most delicious eating; four couple was the greatest number of those birds that I ever killed in Sweden in any one day. They were by no means plentiful in the vicinity of Gottenburg.

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The double snipe is a bird of passage, and among those which arrive the latest; in colour speckled grey, with a long bill. At the end of July, when the meadows are mowed, the shooting of these birds with the pointer commences, and continues till towards the end of September. They may also be shot during the spring; but I have observed this has diminished the autumn shooting. In the whole round of sporting, this affords one of the greatest pleasures. These birds are easy to shoot; and in some places, fifty or sixty, and considerably more, may be shot in a day, particularly in autumn, when they are so fat that they almost burst their skins. They are most delicious eating.

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In the heather surrounding a small lake in the island of Hoy, in the Orkneys, I found in the month of August, in 1817, the nests of ten or twelve couple of snipes. I was grouse shooting and my dog continually pointed them, and as there were sometimes three young ones and two old ones in the nest, the scent was very powerful.

Snipes are usually fattest in frosty weather, which I believe is owing to this, that in such weather they haunt only warm springs, where worms are abundant, and they do not willingly quit these places, so that they have plenty of nourishment and rest, both circumstances favourable to fat. In wet open weather they are often obliged to make long flights, and their food is more distributed. The jack-snipe feeds upon smaller insects than the snipe, small white larvæ, such as are found in black bogs, are its favourite food, but I have generally found seeds in its stomach, once hempseed, and always gravel. I know not where the jack-snipe breeds, but I suspect far north. I never saw their nests or young ones in Germany, France, Hungary, Illyria, or the British Islands.

In 1828, in the drains about Labach, in Illyria, common snipes were seen in the middle of July. The first double snipes appeared the first week in September, when likewise woodcocks were seen; the first jack-snipe seen, did not appear until three weeks later than the 29th of September. I was informed at Copenhagen, that the jack-snipe certainly breeds in Zealand, and I saw a nest with its eggs, said to be from the island of Sandholm, opposite Copenhagen, and I have no doubt that this bird and the double snipe sometimes make their nests in the marshes of Holstein and Hanover. An excellent sportsman and good observer informs me, that in the great royal decoy, or marsh preserve, near Hanover, he has had ocular proof of double snipes being raised from the nest there; but these birds require solitude and perfect quiet, and, as their food is peculiar, they demand a great extent of marshy meadow. Their stomach is the thinnest among birds of the scolopax tribe, and, as I have said before, their food seems to be entirely the larvae of the tribuæ, or congenerous flies.

_Snipe Shooting._—Snipes when plenty afford very excellent sport, it being allowed to be the pleasantest, on account of the quick succession of shots; this is also the best shooting for practice, seldom failing to make indifferent shots most excellent ones. There is no shooting that presents such a variety of shots, scarcely any two being alike.

These birds usually fly against the wind, therefore every snipe-shooter should walk down it, as by that means the bird, if he rises before him, will fly back, and coming round him, describe a kind of circle; or at least his flight, for a certain distance, will not lengthen the shot, allowing him a certain time to cover the bird and take good aim; for if he gets up before him, and should by chance go down the wind, or from him, it is then the most difficult shot. It will be proper, in this case, to let the bird get a little distance from him, as then he will fly steadier and the slightest grain will fetch him to the ground.

* * * * *

When shooting snipes in the vicinity of Gottenburg, one’s sport mainly depends on the weather. If it blows hard from the westward, a strong current sets into the river from the North Sea; this impedes its course, and causes it to overflow its bounds, in which case many of the marshes become partially overflown, when the snipes, from finding little shelter, usually lie light, and are difficult to approach. If, on the countrary, the wind should be moderate, or from the eastward, and the water consequently low, those birds have abundance of cover, and it is easy therefore to get within range of them.

* * * * *

Pointers are made use of by many in shooting this species of birds, and, what is very singular, although these birds are so diminutive, in comparison with game which pointers are most accustomed to, yet they will stand equally staunch to them; even to the jack-snipe, which is the smallest of these birds. If you make use of a pointer it ought to be a very old staunch one, for two reasons; the first is, that this diversion not only spoils young ones, but slacks their mettle, as the points come so fast upon them, that if they become habituated to snipes, they will not look for other game, by reason of their getting a number of points without any exertion; secondly, a young pointer will be too quick for the snipe,—on the contrary, an old one would not be able to go out of a very slow pace, and, if under good command, will give the most satisfaction. When these birds are very plenty, the snipe-shooters never make use of a dog, as they always walk them up, which is found to answer best, and afford the most sport.

A pointer that is much used for grouse or partridge, should never be taken out snipe or pheasant shooting; for if he once gets accustomed to snipes, he will often baulk you on the moors in the grousing season; for as snipes are frequently met with at that time on them, if he points one, he may often give you a good walk and trouble, before you get to him, supposing it is game, and you are not a little mortified to find it only a snipe: and if accustomed to pheasants, he will be always puzzling about hedges, and not beat his ground as he ought to do. An old pointer may also be made use of for pheasants, as well as snipes.

The jack-snipe (_Vide_ JUDCOCK) is esteemed the most difficult shot, although he seldom, on rising, makes any twistings or twinings, and will alight or pitch again, after being fired at, within a couple of hundred yards. Every sportsman that has been much accustomed to snipe-shooting, will allow, that a jack-snipe will suffer himself to be fired at twenty times in the same field, and will pitch each time so close to the shooter, that he frequently conceives that he has wounded him. They lie so close, that a staunch pointer might remain at his point until the moon changed, as this bird will not rise until forced to do so. A most curious circumstance which occurred respecting a jack-snipe that was sprung several times by a Mr. Molloy, formerly a quarter-master of the 64th regiment, while he was quartered at Geneva barracks, Ireland, is well worth relating: he regularly, after his duty was done, or if he could possibly obtain leave for a day, used to equip himself for shooting, and always sprung this jack-snipe, at which he fired and followed, and the bird used to pitch so close to him at times, that he was confident he had shot it, and used to run to take it up, when, to his great surprise, it would rise and fly a little farther; he actually acknowledged he fired, one day, eighteen times at this bird, and after shooting at it for the whole season, he happened to be crossing the bog it lay in, when he put it up, and exclaiming, “there’s my old friend,” threw his stick at it, and killed it on the spot. Whenever, after, any of his brother officers found a jack-snipe, they were always sure to say, “there goes Quartermaster Molloy.”

In Ireland, in the bottoms of the county of Limerick, about Charleville, these birds are in the greatest abundance, as it is not uncommon to hear of a person shooting twenty brace of them in the morning. The late Sir George Dunbar, of the 14th regiment of Light Dragoons, when quartered at Charleville, won a considerable wager by shooting forty-three brace between ten o’clock in the morning and four in the afternoon; and what appears still more extraordinary is, that although there are so many sportsmen about that place, who follow these birds, and others who net them, yet you find always enough of sport the day following; for there seem to be as many snipes, after two months’ destruction, as there were at the beginning of the season. The compiler himself has shot twenty brace, frequently, in a day, in the county of Cork; and, in the county of Limerick, has fired so often, that he has been forced to wait for the barrel of the gun to cool, before he durst attempt to reload.—_Thornville_—_Daniel_—_Lloyd_—_Latham_—_Grieff._

SNORT, _v._ To blow through the nose, as a high-mettled horse.

SNOUD, _s._ The finer part of the line to which, in sea-fishing, the
hook is immediately attached.

SOAP, _s._ A substance used in washing.

SOAR, _v._ To fly aloft, to tower; to fly without visible action of
the wings.

SOAR, _s._ Towering flight; the flight of the eagle and falcon.

SOAR HAWK, _s._ So termed from the time she leaves the eyrie until
she mews her feathers.

SOCIABLE, _s._ A kind of phaeton, with two seats facing each other,
and a box for the driver.

SOIL, _s._ Dirt, spot, foulness; land, country; dung, compost; cut
grass given to cattle; _to take soil_, in hunting; to go into
water.

SOLDER, _v._ To unite or fasten with any kind of metallic cement; to
mend, to unite anything broken.

SOLDER, _s._ Metallic cement.

SOLE, _s._ The bottom of the foot; the bottom of the shoe; the part
of any thing that touches the ground; a kind of sea fish. Soles
will take a bait freely; but they are generally taken with a
trawl net.

SOLID, _a._ Not fluid; not hollow, compact, dense.

SOLUBLE, _a._ Capable of dissolution or separation of parts.

SOLUND or SOLAN GOOSE, _s._ A fowl in bigness and feather very like
a tame goose, but his bill longer. _Vide_ PUFFIN.

SONG, _s._ Anything modulated in the utterance; a ballad, a poem,
lay, strain; poetry, poesy; notes of birds; an old song, a
trifle.

_Song of Birds._—As the song of birds is not allowed to be the effect of love, by an honourable author on the subject of singing birds (Daines Barrington), we shall endeavour to elucidate this matter from experiments on birds in their natural wild state; and also endeavour to prove that their notes are innate, contrary to that author’s opinion. That confined birds will learn the song of others they are constantly kept with, there is no doubt; but then it is generally blended with that peculiar to the species. In the spring, the very great exertions of the male birds in their vociferous notes are certainly the calls to love; and the peculiar note of each is an unerring mark for each to discover its own species. If a confined bird had learned the song of another, without retaining any part of its natural notes, and was set at liberty, it is probable it would never find a mate of its own species; and even supposing it did, there is no reason to believe the young of that bird would be destitute of its native notes; for if nestling birds have no innate notes peculiar to the species, and their song is only learned from the parent bird, how are we to account for the invariable note each species possesses, when it happens that two different species are bred up in the same bush, or in one very contiguous, or when hatched or fostered by a different species.

* * * * *

Although there appears considerable force in these arguments of Montagu, I am disposed to be of opinion, that birds sing most frequently from joy and buoyancy of spirits, and not unfrequently in triumphant defiance of rivalry or attack. I have a red-breast at present, who will sing out whenever I snap my fingers at him; and the sedge-bird sings when a stone is thrown into the bush where he may be.