OTTER HUNTING, FALCONRY, SHOOTING 145 



have been a really first-class shot at them or anything 

 else ; but I did get a knack of killing them stone-dead, 

 which seems to be rare nowadays. In the open, with 

 a bunny going all he knew, there was no art in this ; 

 but in thick cover, with the object cautiously hopping 

 about, my view was always to hustle him into rapid 

 flight, and seize the right instant to put the whole 

 charge behind his ears. One seldom gets a shot in 

 thick cover at rabbits at more than fifteen or twenty 

 yards, and the main object should be not to blow them 

 to pieces. For this sort of work I always preferred a 

 twenty-bore. The right moment to fire came upon one 

 by instinct, after some practice." ^ 



' To the Rev. Murray Matthew. 



10 



