The Single- Barrel Gun 



he always makes on the opposite side of the oak, so 

 as to have the screen of the thick branches between 

 himself and the gunner. The wood-pigeon, starting 

 like this from a tree, usually descends in the first 

 part of his flight, a gentle downward curve followed 

 by an upward rise, and thus comes into view at the 

 lower part of the curve. He still seems within shot, 

 and to afford a good mark; and yet experience has 

 taught me that it is generally in vain to fire. His 

 stout quills protect him at the full range of the gun. 

 Besides, a wasted shot alarms everything within 

 several hundred yards ; and in stalking with a single- 

 barrel it needs as much knowledge to choose when 

 not to fire as when you may. 



The most exciting work with the single-barrel was 

 woodcock shooting; woodcock being by virtue of 

 rarity a sort of royal game, and a miss at a woodcock 

 a terrible disappointment . They have a trick of skim- 

 ming along the very summit of a hedge, and looking 

 so easy to kill ; but, as they fly, the tops of tall briers 

 here, willow-rods next, or an ash-pole often intervene, 

 and the result is apt to be a bough cut off and nothing 

 more. Snipes, on the contrary, I felt sure of with 

 the single-barrel, and never could hit them so well 

 with a double. Either at starting, before the snipe 

 got into his twist, or waiting till he had finished that 

 uncertain movement, the single-barrel seemed to drop 

 the shot with certainty. This was probably because 

 of its perfect natural balance, so that it moved as if 

 on a pivot. With the single I had nothing to manage 

 but my own arms; with the other I was conscious 

 that I had a gun also. With the single I could kill 

 farther, no matter what it was. The single was 

 quicker at short shots snap-shots, as at rabbits 

 darting across a narrow lane ; and surer at long 

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