NOTES BY AN OLD SPORTSMAN 287 



Four and five young at a birth are not at 

 all uncommon occurrences, 



A very extraordinary thing happened 

 when I was shooting with the late Mr. 

 Walter Phipps. We were working down 

 the banks of a creek, one on each side, not 

 far from Changchow on the Grand Canal. 

 My dog put up a hare which made for a 

 small stone bridge which crossed the creek. 

 Phipps' dog happened to be at the other 

 side of the bridge. Puss was so terrified 

 that she made a mad jump right into the 

 jaws of my companion's dog, a big black 

 retriever. 



There must be a very strong and attrac- 

 tive scent about hedgehogs. Once when 

 near the Four Waters on the Soochow 

 Creek, a spaniel I had brought me in rapid 

 succession from amongst some old coffin 

 and decayed timber seven tightl}' rolled 

 hogs. The artistic manner in which the 

 dog first tackled the quills and then tenderly 

 carried the animal was a sight worth re- 

 membering. 



The same dog once brought me four 

 leverets from the same nest, which I only 

 discovered by following the animal return- 

 ing for more, where was yet a fifth. It is 



