168 PHEASANTS 



outline approaches the square in shape, 

 and it may then take a whole army of 

 beaters and stops to command the move- 

 ments of the birds ; but if their width be 

 not more than half their length, half as 

 many men may serve to beat the same 

 area. In general, one large covert of 

 manageable shape and size surrounded by 

 smaller clumps within easy distance is the 

 best distribution of woods for shooting 

 purposes. 



Wherever any other method can be 

 devised, pheasants should never be shot 

 in the central wood where they live, 

 unless the fall of the ground admits of 

 some corner being regularly laid off as a 

 flushing spot. However well the rides 

 may be cut back, the shooting is almost 

 inevitably a disappointing performance, 

 when birds are simply driven from one 

 section of the wood into another. This 

 leads us to the second class of game- 

 covert, into which the larger covert 

 should be driven blank, and the birds shot 

 on their homeward flight. 



