100 FRANK SCHLEY'S PARTRIDGE AND PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



away mark them carefully down, they will fly but a short 

 distance, and you will have them presently. After having 

 flushed up all the birds in the covey let your dog out, and 

 hunt up those that have escaped. Advance to the spot 

 where you have seen them alight, hunt the dog close around 

 the spot; he will soon find them, then flush them up singly, 

 take good aim, and shoot them down. If you should hap- 

 pen to miss one or two, mark them down carefully, and 

 follow on after them as before. In this manner I have 

 killed every bird in the covey. If a covey is scattered, late 

 in the season, the birds generally lie some hours in their 

 hiding places, but they will not lie long the first of the season, 

 and in wet weather they lie only for a short time, and will 

 commence running after they have set but a few minutes. 

 When scattered in the middle of the day they lie longer 

 than any other time, especially if they have chosen long 

 grass for their hiding place. If a covey is scattered early 

 in the morning the birds will be apt to reassemble in a short 

 time ; but if scattered late in the evening they will assur- 

 edly reassemble in a short time, unless the birds have been 

 separated very widely, and driven a long distance off; they 

 will then not reassemble until the next day. A great deal, 

 however, depends upon the weather and the cover, and 

 whether the birds are wild or tame. It is always prudent 

 to follow a covey directly it is flushed up. Some covies 

 run the moment they strike cover, arid thus may be lost 

 altogether. They run very swiftly when frightened, and 

 after the lapse of a half hour they may be a half mile from 

 where they alighted. 



