PHEASANT-SHOOTINa. 787 



Soon as the ready dogs their quarry spring, 

 And swift he spreads his Yai-iegated wing, 

 Ceas'd is their cry, with silent look they wait 

 Till the loud gun decides the event of fate : 

 Nor, if the shots are thrown with erring aim, 

 And proudly soars away the unwounded game, 

 Will the stanch train pursue him as he flies 

 With useless speed, and unavailing cries." 



There are no fixed rules for beating covers ; this, however, 

 ought to be a standard regulation, never to beat in a slo- 

 venly manner. Make all the ground good, it will save time, 

 and frequently produces the object of pursuit ; a nide of 

 pheasants sometimes are collected in a narrow compass, and 

 in the middle of the day conceal themselves very close : re- 

 collect, after the morning's scent is evaporated, it is then 

 the spaniel's nose and the shooter's perseverance are called into 

 their fullest exertion. In the early part of the season pheasants 

 prefer grassy, brambly, two or three years' old slops ; and it 

 is lost labour to try higher growths : as the season advances, 

 they lie in clearer bottoms, especially near pits of water, 

 which are sometimes found in woods : in winter, skirting the 

 edges, and afterward by degrees sinking deeper into the covers, 

 is, perhaps, where the game is not very plentiful, as good 

 a mode as any ; the haunt of the game that have been feed- 

 ing in the adjoining fields will thus probably be hit ofi", and 

 it may at least serve to show whether there is game in the 

 covert. If the springers are wide rangers, after traversing 

 the wood well, always make a concluding circuit round the 

 edges of it, depend upon getting shots by this means at the 

 birds, which may have run or flown thither from the interior 

 parts. They are fond of alder-trees, which grow by the sides 

 of pits. 



When parties go shooting pheasants, should it have rained 

 the previous night, the birds will generally be found to have 



