36 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



yards ; but when the shot is pLiced too far back, unless the 

 bird is so near that the pellets have not spread, they will 

 carry on for a great distance, and are in most cases lost, 

 although apparently " cut to ribands." Many sportsmen 

 advocate shot from No. 1 to No. 3 ; but in reality No. 4 

 is quite large enough, and if properly placed is more 

 effective than the larger sizes, as 12-bore guns, in nearly 

 every case, cast very unsatisfactory and irregular patterns 

 with these larger sizes of shot. 



There are times when a cock Caper fairly astonishes the 

 shooter by the shock that he can withstand. It is no 

 uncommon sight to see one shot at in front drop 

 apparently stone dead to within a couple of feet of the 

 ground, then suddenly recover, and once more inflate 

 his wings and pass away in the woods behind, leaving the 

 astonished gunner in wonder, and causing him to forget 

 that he ever possessed such a thing as a second barrel until 

 too late. 



At times your shots may be so easy that they are like 

 so many Turkeys, and probably the next drive you will not 

 grass a bird and will feel tolerably small — you can scarcely 

 believe these to l)e the lumbering old fellows that flopped 

 out past you twenty minutes ago. At Murthly I once saw 

 a really good driving shot fire a number of times without 

 bago'ino- one ; four of the birds were undoubtedly very hard 

 liit — behind, of course — and must eventually have fallen, 

 though not within sio-ht, two of the l)irds, both old cocks, 

 coming almost to the ground in front of him, he allowing 

 them to oet at least fiftv vards away in both cases before 

 giving them the other barrel, which only seemed to hasten 

 their retreat. After the drive I heard him bewailing the 



