WOODCOCK AND SNIPE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2851, 16 August 1916, Page 6

WOODCOCK AND SNIPE

Sir,—With reference to the "very interesting letter on the above subject over the name of Cecil A. Whitney in your issue of 12th instant, I am able to bear out his opinions in nearly every instance. My boyhood and early manhood were spent on tlie East Coast of Scotland, where wild fowl of all sorts are abundant, and whose habits I studied fairly closely. 'Up, to about 1875 it was generally supposed that tho woodcock never nested iu our locality, but I had the good fortune to discover a nest in, I think, the year 1876, in a plantation on my father's farm. After that fow pairs were to be seen all the year round, but whether they, were the offspring of locally-bred birds or not,l. cannot say: At all events tho number of these birds to bo seen during summer appeared to increase, although they were nevor very plentiful. If the difficulty of transportation can bo overcomo, there appears no reason why woodtiock and snipe should not do well in New Zealand, as the country is admirably suited to all birds of that class, which includes curlew and all tho plovers, as well as to many varieties of duck, which at present we have not got. ; The partridge, unfortunately, can never be generally distributed • over these islands —and, perhaps, fortunately. the grouse and black cock, special feeding is necessary to their requirements,. and they must perforce be localised. • The agricultural community cannot have a word -to say against the woodcock or snipe, and there is no likelihood of a few more varieties of wild duck becoming a post—a danger which' must necessarily bo taken into consideration in introducing any animal or plant into a new country. Game is getting scarce, in New Zealand, and anything that the acclimatisation societies can do in' the way of increasing tho supply will bo welcomed by all sportsmen.—l am, etc., J. DRIVER, Wanganui, August 12, 1916.