INLAND AND ON THE SHORE 87 



surrounded St. Giles's Church, and the raven no 

 further away than Hyde Park. 



Probably the finest duck-shooting in all the world 

 is that which falls to the lot of guns participating in 

 the sport on certain English estates. Among w-ild- 

 bred birds I believe the best sport in the kingdom 

 is had at Cranston Manor, where there is a marsh 

 about seven miles in extent; on Lord Castletown's 

 marshes near Abbeyleix; at Stanford, where some 

 forty acres are covered by one of Lord Walsingham's 

 meres; and at Holkham. Scattered over the Cran- 

 ston marsh are stands screened with reeds, wherein 

 the guns take up their places, and, the duck being 

 then kept on the move by beaters, magnificent shoot- 

 ing is obtained. At Somerley and Netherby very large 

 bags are made; but here the duck are home-reared 

 birds. At Netherby, in October 1902, during which 

 year Sir Richard Graham bred over ten thousand 

 duck, three days' shooting resulted in a bag of more 

 than three thousand head. On the first day nine 

 guns including the Prince of Wales, the Duke of 

 Montrose, Lord Howe, Lord Oswald, the Hon. H. 

 Stonor, and Sir Richard Graham accounted for 

 1,141, the bag on the second day being 1,112, and, 

 on the following day, 1,020. At the close of the final 

 day the Prince of Wales killed ninety-six birds in sixty 



