160 SHOOTING. 



attaclied to fox-hunting, to introduce these parker and hedgehog 

 rabbits into certain localities of then- grounds, with a view of sup- 

 porting the foxes. But we believe that it has, in numerous cases, 

 turned out that the rabbits bred in such prodigious numbers, 

 that they became a regular nuisance, and very difl&cult indeed to 

 root out again. This practice has given rise to many serious 

 disputes and bickerings among farmers and their landlords, about 

 the destruction of the crops of grain by the rabbits in such places. 



With respect to the shooting of these animals in such locahties, 

 every degree of caution isrequisite. It is indispensable you should 

 avoid advancing in a straight line towards them, or even to give a 

 glance at them. They must be approached by stealth. If you have 

 a dog, keep him close to your heels. Stoop down, and prevent the 

 animal from seeing you, if you can. This, and such like stratagems, 

 are the only means to get a shot at these kind of rabbits. 



We may incidentally allude to hare shooting, though the annual is 

 more an object of the chase, than of the gun. StiU, throughout the 

 shooting season, there are a vast number of hares shot. Few sports- 

 men allow her to make her escape, when a fair shot offers. Some 

 fowlers are remarkably clever at finding and shooting hares ; 

 and we have knowninore than one instance, where it became quite 

 a passion to the entire exclusion of any other kind of sporting. We 

 have often seen an individual in a stubble field in a fine evening, 

 crawling upon his knees, _ and sometimes on his side or his belly; 

 and, without any dog, gaining upon poor puss so sloAvly but surely, 

 that her death became certain. This shooter would never, however, 

 fire at a hare in her seat in a hedge or cover of any kind. This he 

 thought most unsportsmanlike, and cowardly. 



Hares are not difficult to kill. Their mode of running is more 

 favourable to the sportsman than the bouncing and stotting move- 

 ments of the rabbit. 



CHAPTER XVIIl. 



DEER-STALKIKG. 



This is comparatively a modern shooting amusement, confined 

 chiefly to the higher classes of Enghsh sportsmen. It is, however, 

 full of interest and excitement ; and we shall endeavour to impart 

 as general an idea of it as our Hmits will permit. 



The deer, it is well known, has been an interesting object of the 

 chase from the earliest records of the human family. Stag hunting 

 is treated of by Xenophon, at considerable length, and minuteness 

 of detail. It forms a conspicuous item in Anglo-Saxon history ; and. 



