xxix. WOODPIGEON SHOOTING (PART III) 461 



place, for a couple of days previous to shooting, with 

 chaff and seeds ; the ground, for about 40 yards, is 

 cleared in the form of a broad path running from the 

 shooter in his shelter, and a half-dozen decoy birds, 

 as usual heads to the wind, are placed in line along 

 it* (fig. 103). 



The wind should always blow across the swept 

 path from one side or the other it matters not 

 which ; and the shooter will sometimes obtain a fine 

 family shot at a score or more birds feeding on the 

 path in line with his gun ; though he can, if he prefers 

 to do so, take his shots before the birds alight, as 

 they fly up sideways of him against the wind. 



There are four species of the wild pigeon in 

 Britain, though only three of these visit our woods, 

 the rock dove haunting the cliffs and breeding in the 

 caves of the sea coast. 



(1) The RING DOVE is our common woodpigeon, 

 which, from the white band or ring of feathers almost 



* A few live birds are invaluable in this style of shooting ; only be 

 careful to place them a little to one side of the swept ground on a 

 small patch to themselves, or you may kill them by accident. To 

 procure live birds, find a couple of nests in summer, and with soft 

 string tie the legs of the fledgelings to the sides of their nests. The 

 old birds will continue to feed them, and when full grown you can 

 remove the young ones to a basket cage, and easily bring them up by 

 hand on corn. Clip one wing, tie a piece of tape a foot long to each 

 leg, join the loose ends, and peg the birds down with an inverted 

 forked twig when you require them as decoys, with some food round 

 to induce them to move about. 



