174 EEMINISCENCES OP A SPORTSMAN. 



that the dog in keenness runs over them, and 

 they then make a retrogi'ade movement. On these oc- 

 casions they have been sometimes caught by the hand. 

 The bird flies with his legs hanging down, and takes 

 short flights. The sportsman should let the rail go at 

 least five and twenty yards before he fires, and a slight 

 wound will bring him down ; but when shot too near 

 they are rendered unfit for the table. The fleetness of 

 this bird's feet compensates for the slowness of its flight. 

 Daniel says that this bird sometimes perches on a bough 

 in the hedge ; it may be so, but I confess I never saw 

 it, although I have shot a great many. Landrails are 

 plentiful in the Isle of Anglesea, and are also nume- 

 rous in Ireland, where it is supposed they remain during 

 the winter. They are also found in the north of Scot- 

 land, and in the Hebrides and Orkneys. On their first 

 arrival in England they do not weigh more than six 

 ounces, but before their departure they have been known 

 to exceed eight ounces. 



The migrations of this bird extend more to the north 

 than the south, and notwithstanding the slowness of its 

 flight, it penetrates into Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and 

 even Norway. WTien shooting during the autumn in 

 the Isle of Purbeck, near Swanage, I found a consi- 

 derable number of landrails. They were all in excellent 

 condition. I have mentioned in the chapter on falconry 

 that a blacksmith at Bridport captured these birds with 

 a sparrow hawk, and sent them to "Weymouth for Her 

 Majesty Queen Charlotte, and was paid five shillings a 

 brace for them. A French sporting book gives an anec- 

 dote of a French abbe, a decided bon vivant, who was 

 engaged to dine with the parents of two of his pupils. 

 The young men had promised to call at his house to 



