54 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII. 



quite full grown. I shot it whilst it was fishing in 

 a small stream, and the bird had already swallowed 

 twenty-five sticklebacks and one small eel. Its 

 bright red bill is well adapted to hold any fish, 

 however slippery, being supplied with the sharp 

 teeth sloping inwards, which are peculiar to birds 

 of this class. 



Hares have a particular fancy for sitting near 

 houses, undeterred by the noise of the men and 

 dogs who may inhabit them. When found sitting, 

 a hare sometimes seems fascinated in an extra- 

 ordinary manner by the eye of a person looking at 

 her. As long as you keep your eye fixed on that 

 of the hare, and approach her from the front, she 

 appears afraid to move, and, indeed, will sometimes 

 allow herself to be taken up by the hand. A hare, 

 when dogs are near her, is particularly unwilling to 

 start from her form. In cover shooting many of 

 the old and experienced hares steal off quietly the 

 moment they hear the sound of dogs or beaters at 

 one end of the wood ; and thus their quick senses 

 of hearing and smelling enable them to escape the 

 guns, however numerous and however well placed. 

 Shooters in wood pay too little attention to the 

 direction of the wind. All small game, like deer, 

 are most unwilling to face an enemy standing 

 to windward of them ; but keepers either expect, or 



