216 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



was known to kill two hundred and ninety in three hun- 

 dred shots. The birds are easily bagged in the open 

 ground early in the season, as they fly straight away — if 

 a person does not become nervous from the rapidity of 

 their flight. Excitable people should try to give them a 

 start of twenty or thirty yards before firing, as that dis- 

 tance will enable the shot to scatter, and increase the 

 possibilities of a hit. They ought also to take deliberate 

 aim, as snap shots are not so likely to be successful as 

 those delivered with a prompt but steady swing. If the 

 birds are not too wild, a charge of three drachms of pow- 

 der and an ounce or an ounce and an eighth of No. 10 shot 

 will be found sufliciently powerful to bring down the 

 toughest old cock, going straight away at full speed, but 

 No. 8 is better at a later period m the season, when the 

 birds are exceedingly wild, as it has a velocity of seventy- 

 one feet a second greater than No. 10 shot. It may also 

 be stated that a ten-gauge gun will send its charge one 

 hundred feet per second faster than a twelve-gauge can, 

 so that one of the former size may be the best to use 

 throughout the year, everything considered, if it is not 

 too heavy. A convenient weight would be seven and a 

 half or eight pounds. 



I have bagged Bob Whites in several of the Western 

 States, but I found them more numerous in tlie regions 

 adjoining the Missouri River, and in Florida and Texas, 

 than m any other part of the Continent. While I was 

 travelling through Southern Nebraska, I joined a party 

 of five, who were bound on a campaign against the birds. 

 We secured lodging in a farm-house, which was in tiie 

 center of a good game region, and remained there until 

 we had exhausted our ammunition. 



The day after our arrival we commenced work, after 

 breakfast, along the banks of the river. The birds 

 seemed to be quite numerous, but as they ran before the 

 dogs^ we were unable to get a shot at them. Thinking 



