158 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



have to be unlearnt. It is worth the expense. AH shooting 

 is going to be expensive. A pair of first-class guns may 

 cost 200 just now. Yon may probably pick up a second- 

 hand pair lor about half that figure. There must be many 

 such in the market, bearing the melancholy label, " Property 

 of an Officer, deceased," or belonging to cripples, physical 

 or financial Before purchasing have the gun or guns" vetted" 

 by their maker, and also ascertain whether they can be altered 

 to fit you wen. Avoid "full-chokes/' single-triggers, etc. 

 Iff you have been h^ndKi^g a rifle during the war, try to forget 

 all about it. Even an expert sniper wffl probably be a bad 

 shot with the gun, if its use has not been learnt before or 

 concurrently with that of the other weapon. 



When you have made yourself fairly proficient at day 

 pigeons, going away, crossing from father side, and overhead, 

 yon wfll learn a great deal by " taking on " the real five 

 bird* and opportunities for doing so should present them- 

 selves without difficulty. Get leave from a farmer, a class 

 winch piebKives a Gaffionic attitude towards these pests 

 which ravage his crops; a class secure in its guarantees, 

 doles and various forms of compensation. It seems a thou- 

 sand pities that the wood pigeon is a non-political bird; 

 once he were srhfdnled as "game" many a hand would 

 be against him. Meanwhile, however, he wfll afford you 

 an fKcrilpnt test, not merely in accuracy of aim, but especially 

 in quickness, decision, alertness, self-concealment, immo- 

 bility, whether you toc^e him coming in to the luiuips, 

 or " tie up " near his roosting places. Do not go to the same 

 spot too often ; be in your place early. Picking up pigeons 

 is, in Jtsrff, good practice for marking; they are not easily 

 lost, owing to the trail of fight feathers shed in the falL When 

 not feiing on roots they are good eating. Sometimes, 

 however, these birds suffer from an epidemic of some complaint 

 akin to diphtheria in the throat and upper crop, disgustingly 

 evident. In this case prudence suggests their being burnt. A 

 wooden decoy, mounted on a fight, stiff pole, wmch can be 

 secured to a tree, is useful on occasions, seated, of course, 

 beak to windward. For use on the ground dead pigeons can 

 be so arranged as to decoy the living, but a tame bond confined 

 by a brace and tether is far better. He should be reared from 



