i;o THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



one of a remarkably fine lot that was given to me after 

 a few days' sport on gorse-clad hillsides in Wiltshire. 

 Several more of this same lot were almost as good, and 

 certainly with regard to their coats and general healthy 

 plumpness I never saw finer rabbits than these. They 

 were, of course, pure wild rabbits free from cross or 

 strain of any kind, and they were shot in November. 

 The average weight of adult wild rabbits is somewhere 

 about 3 lb., or perhaps a little over, but in some cases 

 exceptionally well-fed rabbits have been shot weighing 

 4 lb. or more. Some have even been stated to weigh 

 upwards of 5 lb. ; most sportsmen of experience will, 

 however, be inclined to regard these monsters with 

 suspicion as being of somewhat doubtful origin with 

 respect to purity of descent. 



Although I had frequently seen hares take to water in 

 order to escape from man or dog, I had not seen the 

 rabbit swimming until the autumn of 1897. I n October 

 of that year I was with a party of guns shooting hares 

 on an Essex " salting," and in the course of the day I 

 was considerably surprised on disturbing a rabbit from 

 the coarse saline herbage to see it make straight for 

 a wide creek alongside, and on entering the water, 

 without the slightest hesitation, strike out for the 

 opposite shore. It swam with the head well elevated, 

 and cut through the water at good speed. 



Of wild pigeons we have in this country four species. 

 Of these it will only be necessary to mention three as 

 being of any concern to the shooter, for the turtledove 

 is merely a summer visitor, and few people will incline 

 to look upon that delicate little pigeon as a medium for 

 sport. Of the rest, then, two are wood-pigeons, the 

 ringdove (Columba palumbus) and the stockdove 



