90 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



shooter, lie is right enough for his single or double shot, 

 as the case may be ; for the plumage of the two sexes is 

 then quite easily distinguished up to seventy or eighty 

 yards, even when the birds are coming straight on. But 

 should the light be failing, or the day be misty and dull 

 (which, by the w^ay, are the best days on which to shoot, 

 the birds nearly always travelling low and straight ahead 

 when driven), then the sight of the man who can spot his 

 birds at even forty or fifty yards is indeed phenomenal 

 and much to be envied. For myself, and I think the 

 majority of sportsmen will l^e of the same mind, I like to 

 have the least bit of his tail focussed on the retina of one 

 eye before I pull. By the time this has been accomplished 

 you find you have only just managed to get your right off 

 without trespassing on the dangerous angle, so are obliged 

 to take your left well behind. In shooting Blackgame it 

 is of the greatest importance that, with Blackcocks at any 

 rate, one should take the birds in front if possible. "When 

 the light is not very good, this becomes difficult and 

 requires very quick shooting, which of course gives an 

 additional charm to the sport. Blackgame, in nine cases 

 out of ten, are really very much easier to shoot than 

 Grouse, provided they are taken at the right time and in 

 the right way. When hit well forward they drop cleanly 

 enough, but when fired at going away they will often 

 carry off a charge that would drop a Grouse at once. 



When fully feathered and in possession of all their 

 faculties, there are no game birds better able to take care 

 of themselves than this species. When shooting in line, 

 after the middle of September, it is only now and again 

 that one gets a chance at them by suddenly surprising a 



