ON PLAIN AND PEAK 



bird with no white ring round his neck, which falls 

 with a thud like a diminutive capercailzie rabbits, 

 and woodcock, to say nothing of a stray roebuck 

 or two thrown in. 



The most solemn function comes at the end of 

 a day's shooting, when the slain are arranged in 

 rows neatly on the ground, and the head-keeper, 

 hat in hand, reads out the number of each variety 

 of game killed and the sum total, closing with a pro- 

 found bow and a " Waidmanns Heil" to which the 

 sportsmen reply with " Waidmanns Dank." On 

 some estates it is customary to blow the death-song 

 of the various beasts and birds, and also to announce 

 what esLchja^er has himself shot. 



Many Austrian hosts give what they consider to 

 be the best place throughout the day to the guest 

 of the highest social rank a proceeding rather apt 

 to lead to a certain amount of jealousy. Sometimes 

 it happens, however, that the favoured individual 

 is by no means the best shot, and, far from being 

 the jagd-konig (as the sportsman who kills the most 

 is called), even fails to hold his own. 



An amusing incident once occurred at the end 

 of a day's covert-shooting. A certain gentleman of 

 high rank, who had enjoyed the best position 

 throughout the day, had fired off a tremendous num- 

 ber of cartridges with but very poor results. This 

 placed the head-keeper in a very delicate position. 



92 



