IN SHOOTING. 135 



you will drive the birds away from your own pro- 

 perty to where they may fall a prey to other shooters, 

 or be driven into the heart of another manor by some 

 knowing gamekeeper. Many old sportsmen will not 

 beat their ground at all in windy weather. This I 

 hold to be bad, for birds run a great deal when it 

 blows hard ; and, by such means, often run out of 

 bounds. When birds are young and tame, a windy 

 day is generally the ruin of good sport ; but when 

 they are strong and wild, the most boisterous weather 

 is frequently the best for one who shoots quick and 

 well, as the birds cannot hear so far, and will often 

 lie the closer, for the sake of shelter. 



For one who happens to be deprived of his only 

 dog at the critical time of the shooting, or when 

 there is no scent, on a dry sultry day, there is many 

 a worse plan for killing birds than to get two boys to 

 drag the ground with a rope, from ten to twenty yards 

 long, kept down with a weight or stone at each end. 

 This plan first struck me from the immense number 

 of birds that have been sprung by the land-measurers, 

 after harvest, at a time when the best of sportsmen 

 have left behind them a great deal of game. If there 

 is one shooter, he should keep in the middle, a little 

 behind the rope, and the boys should be well drilled 

 to drop like dogs when the game rises. But if two 

 shooters, then one may be on each flank, and the 

 rope may have a longer sweep. 



For a person who has regular business to attend, 

 and therefore can only go out for a few hours in the 



