ON SHOOTING. 163 



'II. 



MAINLY ON " DRIVING." 



IN my last letter I pointed out the difference between the 

 occasions when it is your duty to kill or try to kill every 

 bird properly yours, i.e., nearer to you than to anybody 

 else, and those opportunities for sundry little courtesies, 

 of which the most ordinary consists in leaving to your 

 neighbour any birds which would afford him " prettier " 

 shots. In the former category are included grouse and 

 partridge driving, though even here you must not take me 

 too literally ; when there are plenty of birds, try to select 

 those unlikely, if spared or missed, to afford shooting to 

 either of your neighbours. And, when the big pack advances 

 up-wind, should you be in the line of flight of its foremost 

 birds, let them pass you altogether rather than risk turning 

 back the lot by premature shooting. This is just the kind of 

 " crisis " when the presence and advice of an old hand in 

 your butt will save you from committing an indelicacy 

 which, according to Talleyrand, is worse than a crime. Do 

 not whistle or otherwise announce to your neighbour the 

 approach of a bird which you intend shooting yourself, 

 nor when your neighbour is obviously annoyed by your doing 

 so, nor when he cannot fail to see the approaching birds; 

 it is apt to make him think there are others which he cannot 

 see. There are some excellent sportsmen who are a perfect 

 nuisance in this respect. Do not be so intent on watching 

 your neighbour, in the hope of " wiping his eye " or taking 

 a bird behind him when he is " empty," as to neglect birds 

 approaching you. Such a .proceeding will make you feel 

 foolish, and if of a sensitive nature may spoil your shooting 

 for some time. All such little happenings leave their mark 

 on subsequent performance. Never lose your temper with 



