COVERT-SHOOTING 299 



(e) The fox and the rabbit, and their 

 position on the place. 



( /) The qualifications of the head-keeper 

 for his place (characters are not worth 

 the paper they are written on, unless they 

 come from some one with a technical 

 knowledge of shooting) ; the staff of 

 keepers, whether adequate and up to 

 their work ; their relations with the 

 farmers, etc. ; and the question of whether 

 systematic poaching is prevalent. 



(g) The general attitude of the in- 

 habitants towards game preservation and 

 shooting tenants ; the sufficiency of 

 beaters and their cost ; the nature of 

 proprietors or tenants of neighbouring 

 shootings. 



(h) The opinion of the outgoing tenant. 



There are naturally many other con- 

 siderations to influence the choice of 

 each individual, but most of the essentials 

 — so far as pheasants are concerned — will 

 be found in this short list. 



