UPLAND SHOOTING. 229 



moutl) of :in old cellar, over which a cottage had stood in past 

 days, uj) wliiilr;! a bevy of Quail, and away over the very same 

 tree-top, liuT now in the opposite direction. 



On examinin'^ tiie cellar, the inside of which was filled with 

 briars and weeds, we found conclusive proof in the numerous 

 droppings of the birds, that they had been in the constant habit 

 of sitting therein, attracted thither probably, in the first instance, 

 by the apples which had fallen into the hollow from the trees 

 overhead. 



It was as yet but early in the afternoon, and we were so near 

 home that we got fresh dogs, and went to work at them again 

 in the bogs, wheT-e we originally found them. Some time had 

 elapsed, and they had run together into a single knot, rose 

 again vcM-y wild, and flew directly back to the old hiding-place. 



Thither we ibllowed them at once, flushed them therein, 

 proving most unequivocally that they had always lain perdu in 

 the same small spot, and drove them out into the open. 



It was too dark by this time to pursue them any longer ; and 

 afterward, though we found them constantly in different parts 

 of the bog meadow, neither as a body, nor as single birds, did 

 they ever betake themselves again to the cellar for refuge. 



Had I not accidentally blundered on that jilace, when think- 

 ing of anything rather than of the birds, I might have hunted 

 for a month over the ground without finding them. From the 

 cavity, and the nairowness of the mouth, a dog might have gone 

 within a yard of it without scenting them ; and I have no doubt 

 that mine had been more than once within that distance of 

 them. 



And here I have done with the difficulty of finding, which by 

 the way is not the least step toward killing our bird. 



It is, however, little less diflftcult to kill when found, than to 

 find in the first instance. When first flushed the bevy rise with 

 such a A\hirring and tumultuous noise that they are very apt to 

 flutter the nei-\es of a young sportsman ; and if they rise very 

 close to the shooter, I have often seen even tolerably good shots 

 discharge both their barrels fruitlessly, from doing so much too 

 quickly. 



