374 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



Rook-shooting may be by no means despicable 

 sport when the rookery is situated in some out- 

 lying copse, and the birds are shot at the right 

 time i.e., when they can fly fairly well, but not 

 strongly enough to take themselves off en masse 

 at the first report of a gun. And in order to 

 ascertain the exact period, the growth of the 

 young birds must be carefully watched ; for though 

 perhaps unable to fly one day, a few days later on 

 they may be too strong on the wing. When, 

 however, they are taken at the proper stage of 

 their growth, they can afford very fair sport to a 

 gun placed outside and well away from the copse, 

 as they fly through the openings between the tree- 

 tops, and especially if they have the additional 

 advantage of a light breeze to aid their flight. 



To most people early rising is distasteful, but 

 the charms of a summer morning by the river- 

 side are sufficient to atone for the discomfort of 

 having to scorn one's pillow just when dull sloth 

 appeals most strongly to our sympathies, and 

 especially when the deep, melodious note of some 

 veteran hound, proclaiming the trail of an otter, 

 peals down the valley. 



Nor does hound-music ever sound so full and 

 rich as when otter-hunting. It may be that the 

 water has power to affect it, but I often think 

 that the note of a hound, when on the line of an 

 otter, is pitched in a lower tone than if the same 

 hound were hunting a fox, a stag, or a hare. 



But since we are up for a purpose, we must be 



