HISTORICAL NOTES 85 



'Poaching' or ' mouching,' as the old 

 fashion of shooting is now called for want 

 of a better word, is at the best a selfish 

 pursuit, wherein one friend is often one 

 too many, while the covert shoot is a 

 natural medium for social intercourse, a 

 place of pleasant meetings, brightening 

 the lives of one generation, and not 

 uncommonly determining the future of 

 the next, for one bow and arrow may 

 often still be seen busy among the breech- 

 loaders. 



Giving, as it does, unequalled oppor- 

 tunities for making and meeting friends, for 

 enjoying the good cheer and better com- 

 pany of our country homes, offering to 

 the ambitious the field where reputations 

 are made and lost — for the pheasant rise 

 is the Bisley of the gun — and to the 

 novice the best practice in acquiring the 

 three essentials in good shooting, quickness, 

 coolness, and accuracy, covert shooting 

 may not rank very high among the true 

 field sports when measured by the standard 

 of hunter, naturalist, or lover of the wild 



