100 UPLAND SHOOTING. 



poem is quoted, as were I to give the other half, there 

 would be nothing left for me to say: 



' ' In rocky regions, where the* pine 

 And spruce and hemlock intertwine, 

 Forming an overhanging roof, 

 Against the rain and sunbeam proof, 

 So dense that scarce a ray may pour 

 Across the dark and russet floor, 

 There doth the speckled partridge come, 

 In dim recess to make a h'ime ; 

 To sound the drum, or forth to lead 

 The young, on berries ripe to feed ; 

 Prompt on affrighted wing to break 

 When foes the tangled thickets shake. 

 They love the lofty, breezy height, 

 The hill-side, with its sunshine bright; 

 The long, mountainous range of hills, 

 Where bubble forth the crystal rills, 

 Where oak and laurel intertwine, 

 And shakes its plumy crest the pine; 

 And there they love to lurk, and feed 

 On falling mast and dropping seed." 



If the sight of these brown-eyed, innocent beauties, 

 busily dusting themselves or receiving food from the 

 mother's bill, will not inspire a man with tender and 

 pleasing emotions, it is doubtful if anything ever will. 

 The instinct to kill is strong in the hunter; so strong, in 

 fact, that he sometimes kills with the knowledge that 

 regret will follow; but I have yet to see the man so 

 merciless so utterly destitute of all the qualities that 

 make life enjoyable as to fire into a huddled brood of 

 these harmless birds. The temptation to shoot single 

 birds, upon the ground or in trees, is greater, perhaps, 

 than the inclination to deny it when done; but such acts 

 bring lasting pleasure only to the youthful tyro; whereas 

 one bird killed upon the wing is worth a dozen potted 

 ones to the sportsman, who hunts for pleasure. 



The members of a scattered covey return on foot to 



