90 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



more anxious to note the habits of the birds than to bag 

 them. On seizing the reins, I followed the gunners very 

 slowly, and received their birds from time to time. They 

 offered to " spell" me after a while, but as I did not wish 

 to spoil their sport, I decided to occupy my exalted position 

 until we reached the stream, and then relinquish it to an- 

 other. While crawling tediously along, I kept my eyes on 

 the ground a good deal, as it was generously covered with 

 bunch-grass, amid which glided an occasional snake or 

 lizard, whose movements were very interesting to me. I 

 fell into such a dull, listless mood after a while that I 

 scarcely saw anything except the mere earth, but on 

 reaching a small piece of shrubbery, I was roused into 

 attention by the gaze of a liquid pair of brown eyes. Not 

 being able, at first, to make out what they belonged to, 

 I halted, and stared steadily at them for a few moments, 

 and then noticed that they were attached to a grayish 

 body, which resembled the ground so much that it was 

 hard to distinguish them apart. After a little further 

 peering, I noticed several more pairs of the same kind of 

 eyes, and as they were scarcely twenty feet away, I de- 

 cided to try my pocket-revolver on them. Drawing that 

 carefully and slowly, for fear of making any movement 

 that would disturb the gazers, I fired at a glistening pair 

 of eyes, and the report had no sooner rung out than a 

 large flock of sharp-tails rose up and fled at their highest 

 speed, and with many an alarmed cry of kuk-kuk-kuk, 

 to safer quarters. 



I shot at them with my gun when they were fairly on 

 the wing, and brought down tw^o. This simple feat gave 

 me much pleasure, for I would rather have bagged that 

 brace under the circumstances I did than several at 

 another time. After picking them up, I went searching 

 for the one I had shot at with the revolver, but I could 

 not find it. Eesuming the reins, I drove slowly, in order 

 to keep behind the gunners and receive their victims, 



