WOODCOCK FIRE-HUNTING. 



"Tis niurderoua, but prollUiblo."— 7bm Otcen. 



One of the most beautiful and " legitimate " amusements 

 of gentlemen, is woodcock shooting. In the " back- 

 woods," where game of every kind is plentiful, it is pur- 

 sued as often as a necessary of life, as for the gratifica- 

 tion afi*orded by the sport. 



Persons living in the hotbeds of civilization, but 

 Vho yet retain enough of the old leaven of the wild man, 

 to love to destroy the birds of the air, and the beasts of 

 the field, are obliged to eke out the excitements of the 

 field by conventional rules, which prescribe the manner 

 of killing, the weapon to be used, and the kind of dog 

 to be employed ; — and the sportsman who is most correct 

 in all these named particulars, is deservedly a " celeb- 

 rity " in his day and generation. 



No sport is more properly guarded and understood 

 by amateur hunters than woodcock shooting, and no 

 sport is more esteemed. Therefore, it was that the an- 

 nouncement that there was a section of the United 

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