426 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



LETTER XXVII 



WOODPIGEON SHOOTING (PAET I) 



As I have already described how to catch woodpigeons 

 (First Series, p. 259), it is proper I should give some 

 instructions in shooting them ! I shall treat this 

 subject at some length, as it is one I have never seen 

 described otherwise than in a cursory manner. 



A woodpigeon is assuredly one of the most sport- 

 ing birds that fly. No bird, not even the woodcock, 

 is more thoroughly wild, or at times more difficult to 

 bring down. 



To kill a score of high-flying pigeons on a rough 

 winter evening, while you are waiting in a covert, is 

 just as pretty and enjoyable an experience of shooting 

 as any man of sporting tastes need desire. Such an 

 outing is to my mind enhanced by the solitude of 

 your surroundings, the rush of the gale in the trees, 

 and the delightfully musical sigh of their wings as the 

 birds sweep overhead. 



