148 SHOOTING. 



trap glides off in silence, and not a nerve is discomposed oy the 

 siniJlest alarm ; but in the field, where the partridge or pheasant 

 rises with aU the ^dgour of an animal exertmg his powers to pre- 

 serve life and hberty, the consequent sound of their pinions in their 

 ascent to the aii-, which is always attended \vith considerable noise, 

 will perhaps create more of that trepidation, which, when possessed i 

 even in a trifling degree, eftectuaUy deters from steadiness in shoot- 

 ing, than if the" shooter had never accustomed hiniseh: to fire at 

 objects whose flight is so dissimilai-. Many young shooters exer- 

 cise their skill at swallows, swifts, and martins; but the flight of 

 these is so irregular and unlike that of every other bird which the 

 sportsman pui'sues, that even a certainty of killing them (which, by 

 the way, a despicable bad shot may acquire a knack of doing by 

 seizuig a particular moment when they are just upon the turn, and 

 are for an instant stationary), does not at aU forward their dex- 

 terity in bringing down any other species of game." Mr. Daniel 

 says again, that " as a mode of shooting to bet large sums' 

 of money upon, pigeon-match shooting is perhaps the least objec- 

 tionable,' since every shooter has an equal chance as to the distance 

 f i-om whence the bird is sprung ; but certainly it is not exactly the 

 kind of shooting that a sportsman mil ever try or fancy as an 

 amusement." A decided favoui'er of this sport observes, '' that 

 whatever degree of utility may otherwise attach to it, pigeon- 

 shootiag has^the further merit of annually delivering some hun- 

 dreds of miserable bh-ds from the clutches of metropoHtan black- : 

 guard fanciers, by whom they are too often kept iu an unnatural . 

 and torturing state of confinement. _ Indeed, then: carriage ui sacks : 

 to the place of execution is no mitigation of their tortures, yet 

 happy are those which there find their quietus. ^ Further, it is an i 

 Englislunan's sport, since it is a free one, iu which a man may exer-' 

 else his gun, although of the unprivileged class." 



Pigeon-match shooting is stiU practised in many parts of England, I 

 and in the metropolis and suburban localities. The terms of these ^ 

 matches vary, according to the fancy of the concoctors of them. 

 Sometimes they are arranged for single, sometunes for double 

 guns ; sometunes for this weight of shot, and sometimes for that. 

 XVe think, however, within these few years these matches have, 

 been decidedly on the dechne, and are not now considered so 'I 

 fashionable as they were wont to be some years ago. 



The Bhigdoi-e, or Cushat {Cohimha Palumbus, Linn.) — We shall i 

 noAV make a few observations on wild pigeon shooting. This birdi 

 varies from twenty to twentj'-two ounces, and its length is about 

 eighteen inches. The bill is yeUo^-ish, and the irides are of a Hght 

 yellow. The head, coverts of the wings, and scapulars, are of 

 deep bluish ash hue, and the neck and breast vinaceous, beautifully 

 glossed with green and copper-colotu', changeable when viewed 

 under different shades of light. On each side of the neck there 

 is a larffc patch of glossy white, which almost joins behind ; the 

 back and tail are ash-colour, and the latter black at the point. The 



