HIND-HUNTING. i6r 



In spring the otter-hounds arc busy in the 

 rivers and streams. After staghounds are past 

 the strain and effort of stag- hunting they are 

 frequently sent to the pack of otter-hounds. 

 Besides this there is fox-hunting and hare- 

 hunting, so that there is scarce a moment 

 the whole year through that game is not 

 being chased in the red deer country. Then 

 there is the black- irame shooting on the 

 moors, the partridges on the corn-lands, and 

 the pheasants in the woods. Snipes frequent 

 the peaty places and ponds left by the removal 

 of the turf on the moors, and wild ducks and 

 golden plovers are shot. Add to this the 

 trout-fishing, and sometimes salmon-fishing, 

 and there is a complete catalogue of sport. 



Yet with all this chasing, sound of 

 horn and sound of gun, it is curious to 

 observe that the birds usually found near 

 homesteads are much less timid than is the 

 case in other counties. The chaffinch, for 

 instance, will perch at the very elbow of 

 the trout-fisher ; the tame pigeons in the 



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