94 WING-SHOOTING. 



woods, they may generally be found in and about the tops 

 of a fallen tree, along the sides of a log, or in and about a 

 brush -heap. Here they will often give the sportsman a 

 number of shots, by one or two rising first, then the 

 greater portion of the bevy, and at last, one or two more, 

 affording sufficient time, if caution be used, for a breach- 

 loader to be charged two or three times. 



Finally, when the bevy is lost, you can get a few more 

 shots by going about seventy or eighty yards from where 

 you suspect the birds are. Then sit down, remain silent 

 for ten or fifteen minutes, and begin to give the call of 

 the old bird. Give it once, twice, then three times at in- 

 tervals of a minute or two, and in all probability, you will 

 be answered by several of the scattered bev}". Shortly 

 after they begin to call they begin to move and approach 

 each other, and in a short time will be together ; do not 

 wait too long, but when sure of the locality of the several 

 answers, then go quietly to each, and you will be rewarded 

 by a shot ; but under like circumstances you must be " on 

 the ready " as the birds are not now^ hidden, but are in 

 comparativel}^ open places, and ready for a spring. 



Late in the autumn and early in the winter, their flights 

 are long and swift, and then they are often hai'd birds to 

 kill, especially in December when the ground is covered 



