CHAPTER XXVI 



Winter Fowling 



VERY different from the dawdling over rabbiting is 

 wild-fowl shooting. The one may be enjoyed in 

 moderation as a distraction ; as an agreeable digestive 

 after a comfortable breakfast ; as a whet for indolent 

 literary by-play and for dinner, after the fashion of the 

 avant-table in Russia or Scandinavia, where spirits and 

 piquant trifles are served up as appetisers. Wild-fowl 

 shooting is a serious business, and we do not know 

 whether, any more than the battue, it ought to be 

 included among winter pleasures. For our own part, 

 we should be inclined to say no ; but it is certain that 

 it becomes a passion with those who devote themselves 

 to it. The successful wild-fowler needs something of 

 the qualities that set up a Hercules going forth upon 

 his labours. In the first place, he must have enthu- 

 siasm bordering upon an abiding frenzy. He must 

 have no ordinary endurance, with a constitution of 

 iron ; he must have keen eyes and steady nerves ; he 

 must have coolness and presence of mind to temper his 

 eagerness ; and, before all things of course, he should 



332 



