PIGEONS. 



"Why is it worse than hunting a bag fox?" or 

 " May not every sport be more or less condemned 

 for cruelty ?" 



As pigeons are commonly turned out at twenty- 

 one yards, it may be easily observed, that the knack 

 of killing them consists in firing the instant they are 

 up, and being careful not to shoot under them, as 

 they take so hard a blow, particularly on the rump, 

 that, if suffered to fly to any distance, they are apt 

 to get out of bounds before they fall. The larger the 

 gun and the charge, the wider the circle of shot ; and 

 therefore the better to assist that shaking hand, which, 

 among the most expert marksmen, may be occasioned 

 by anxiety. Plenty of powder, and a light charge (in 

 proportion) of No. 6 shot will do better for a man 

 while nervous than very close shooting; or, at all 

 events, till he has become cool and confident, which 

 he generally will find himself after he has killed a 

 few birds in succession. 



So little is the art of pigeon shooting the criterion 

 of a good shot, that many of the very best performers 

 at this are scarcely third rate shots at other birds, and 

 some of them perfect cockneys in every other kind of 

 shooting. It must, however, be admitted, that there 

 is more difficulty in shooting pigeons at a regular 

 match than many bystanders are aware of. The man 

 who has to exhibit before hundreds of people, and is, 

 perhaps, betting hundreds of pounds, feels in general 

 a very different sensation from the one who stands 

 merely as a spectator, perfectly composed; arid while 



