SHOOTING 119 



of outlying rabbits from under the juniper bushes on 

 the downs above. And rare sport did they afford, for, 

 pressed by the dogs, they made straight down hill for 

 the covert immediately below them, into which they 

 fell rather than ran, unless stopped halfway by a 

 charge of shot which ended their career. This did 

 not ahvays happen, for a downhill shot at right-angles 

 is one of the most difficult with a fast rabbit, since the 

 gun has not only to be swung a good way in front, 

 but also dipped, and one is very apt to shoot over the 

 mark. We had followed the survivors down, and 

 forming line at one end of the ' hanger ' with a gun 

 above and below, and a third inside with the dogs, 

 we began slowly to advance. The writer was the 

 lowest gun on the left, in a rough field across w^hich 

 innumerable ' runs ' indicated the presence of lots of 

 rabbits in the covert. Presently the gun inside shouted, 

 'Rabbit out on the left! ' and in an instant, sure enough, 

 a rabbit showed on the bank, paused for an instant, 

 jumped the ditch, and raced across the field within a 

 very few yards of the outside gun. So close was he, 

 in fact, that he was given a little ' law^,' and when about 

 twenty-five yards off the gun covered him. Before 

 the trigger was touched, however, he suddenly turned 

 a somersault and fell dead, as much to the astonish- 

 ment of the writer as to that of the inside gun, who 



