210 SHOOTING THE WATEK RAIL, THE 



able as looldng for a needle in a hay-stack — go, if go 

 you will, into clover-fields, and bean and potato 

 pieces. The young meadows in Ireland are voci- 

 ferous with them ; but, of all the feathered family, 

 they are the most impossible to deal with. To do it 

 with even the shadow of a chance, take into the 

 range you purpose beating two or three close-working, 

 steady spaniels, and be always in the centre of them. 

 Never forget the rail always keeps moving ; therefore, 

 whenever and wherever he gets up — should he ever 

 rise — incontinently blaze aw^ay, taking the most re- 

 mote possibility of overtaking him with a single 

 pellet. The only excuse a sportsman can offer him- 

 self for being found looking after rails is, that a shot 

 in hay-harvest time is worth something, for the 

 piu'pose of keeping the hand in. 



IHE W^ATER RAIL. 



As tliis bird is really an amphibious ortolan, the 

 epicure mil not begrudge the trouble of bringing one 

 — to table. A patient shot will bag one, perhaps, in 

 twelve hours — but that only by remembering to press 

 him without an instant's inten^al, should he happen 

 to be found. As the creature, however, is very 

 poorly supplied with the resources of safety, no doubt 

 nature has given it discretion, which is the best pre- 

 servative from danger. If the water rail has taken 

 refuge in a hedge or cover, go in advance of your 

 dogs, which it will most probably be watching, and 



