THE ART OF SHOOTING ON THE WING. 263 



migratory thrushes, called robins. These birds flock 

 together in the fall before they go south, and fly 

 up and down rows of trees in fields, or along 

 fences, from tree to tree, in lanes, and about by- 

 roads. They will afford good practice. The be- 

 ginner need not be deterred from shooting at 

 them by the name " robin," because these 

 birds are no more robins than woodcocks are. 

 All three have red breasts, and so has the 

 bullfinch. The young shooter, as a matter of 

 course, will not shoot at these handsome birds 

 when they are about gentlemen's lawns, where 

 they ornament the smooth-shorn turf and embel- 

 lish the shrubbery. The time for action at 

 them is when they flock preparatory to migration, 

 when they will be found in such places as have 

 been mentioned. The young sportsman may often 

 be able to get shots at these birds sitting, but 

 he should not take them. His main object is to 

 learn to shoot well at birds on the wing, and 

 to this end three so killed are of more account 

 than three dozen shot sitting on tree-tops and 

 on the boughs of scrub pines and cedars. 



A boy who can bring down one-third of the 

 larks and blackbirds he shoots at, and can stop a 

 swallow ouce out of three or four times when 



