GAMEKEEPER TO KEEP GOOD WATCH AT NIGHT. 41 



horse-hair nooses at their roosting places : several of these 

 are laid in traverses about a yard asunder, and when the 

 bird becomes entangled they make violent exertions to 

 get at each other, until they become quite exhausted. In 

 a work written by John Mayer, called the " Sportsman's 

 Dictionary," a singular way of capturing partridges is 

 described : " The gamekeepers of the Earl of Carlisle 

 being on their night perambulations, were not a little 

 astonished and alarmed at seeing a light traversing the 

 field in a very singular manner. They prepared their 

 guns accordingly, and in a short time the light made a 

 sudden stop, when three or four men, whom they had 

 not descried, made their appearance : they were secured 

 in the act of dra\ving a large net to the light ; a setter 

 dog, well trained, had a lantern fixed on his head for the 

 purpose of his ranging the fields in the night ; on his 

 stopping the poachers know where the partridges lie, and 

 draw the net up accordingly."' 



It is important that the gamekeeper's house should 

 be near the wood, or covers, where the pheasants are 

 regularly fed during the winter, or where small stacks 

 of buckwheat are there placed ; it is also desirable that 

 this residence should be, if possilile, in a retired spot, 

 with a small yard or garden, and a back door, by which 

 he may go on his nightly rounds, A\uthout being easily 

 observed, as his movements are frequently watched by 

 the poachers. In these night excursions he ought to 

 be accompanied by a powerful muzzled mastiff dog, 

 who, on urgent occasions, would be of great use to him., 

 particularly in the chase of one or two poachers, when 

 he must be unmuzzled. These men, when unarmed, 

 have a great dread of these dogs. Grreat precaution should 

 be taken to prevent the dog being poisoned at night. 



VOL. II. E 



