xxvii. WOODPIGEON SHOOTING {PART /) 441 



warm coverts, except for roosting at night. In such 

 weather, if the wind is stromj, you can fire away at 

 the birds ail day. Fix your decoys, in this case, on 

 the top of some prominent tree near the centre of the 

 wood the birds are feeding in ; and be sure, also, to 

 place some half-dozen decoys on the ground in a 

 small open space some twenty yards downwind of 

 your position, so that the birds as they fly overhead 

 may see them, and be lured within shot of your 

 hiding place, or to the decoys above you. Send a 

 man to walk round the edges of the wood and direct 

 him to tap the tree stems with his stick ; this will 

 merely move the birds from one part of the wood to 

 another without driving them out of it, and as they 

 rly about they will be attracted to the decoys and 

 afford shots.* 



* As pigeons often feed on turnip tops in snow and frost, order 

 their crops to be removed on reaching home, or instead of their being 

 one of the best birds for the table (especially for soup), they will be 

 the reverse. 



