123 SHOOTING. 



Punt-sliootmg for this bird by the sea-side is sometimes followed 

 by sportsmen. It is both amusing and excitmg._ They gather to- 

 gether in great numbers in autumn, roosting in some particular 

 and favourite locaUties, not far distant from each other. These 

 spots reqmre to be well known by the shooters previous to their 

 operations. When they are approached by means of a punt or 

 boat, wMch should be done in line frosty weather at full tide, and 

 just after or before day-break, the party should conceal themselves 

 by stoopmg or lying down in the punt, and then, when within 

 range, a raking fire from each gimner should be made. Sometimes 

 a good bag of bii'ds is obtamed m this way. 



There is a species called the little curlew, which affords some 

 sport. These bnds are found in considerable numbers on the 

 Essex coast and some parts of South Wales. 



CHAPTER Xni. 



SEA-rOWL SHOOTING. 



Sea-fowl shooting is a highly-exciting and laborious pursuit. It 

 has, however, many redeeming qualities, which, to a vigorous body 

 and mmd, full of ardent sporting enthusiasm, and of a love of the 

 novel, picturesque, and sublime of nature, prove a sufficient com- 

 pensation for all the perils and toUs that attend it. 



Sea-fowl, according to the nomenclature of sportsmen, are a very 

 numerous family. We shall treat of them in the order commonly 

 followed by other writers on the subject. 



T\ie Stormy Petrel {ProcellariaPelagiea,Unm?) — Tliis, tomany 

 sportsmen, is abird of iuterest, chiefly from the difficulty attending 

 his capture. It is the least among the web-footed birds kno-\vn, and is 

 about the size of the common swallow. These birds are well-known 

 omens to mariaers, often congregating in considerable nmnbers 

 about the wake of the ship. They are heard only at night, and are 

 recognized by their shrill and j)iercing cry. The following account 

 of this singular bu'd is taken from Loudon's Magazine of Natural 

 History: — "As the stormy petrel is scarcely ever seen near the 

 land, except in very boisterous weather, one of the natives of the 

 island of St. Hilda, for a trifling remuneration, agreed to traverse 

 the face of a huge rock and fetch me some petrels out of its 

 fissures. Accordingly, accoutred with a rope of hemp and hog's 

 bristles coiled over his shoulders, he proceeded to the cliff. Having 

 made one end fast by means of a stake, he threw the coil over the 

 face of the rock, and gradually lowered himself down, but with the 

 utmost caution and circumspection, carefuUy pressing his foot hard 



