PARTRIDGE 235 



ance of these, as well as of one or two other cautionary 

 rules that instinctively suggest themselves, will cause 

 the veriest tyro to be looked upon as a safe companion 

 in the field. As in woodland shooting the range of 

 vision is so often limited or obstructed by foliage or 

 timber, the sportsman should make up his mind never 

 to shoot at low-flying birds, reckoning an elevation of 

 1 5 ft. or so to be the minimum height of his fire ; and of 

 course, to swing the gun across the line of guns or beaters 

 whilst aiming at a moving object is an unpardonable 

 offence. Then, too, in covert-shooting there is the risk 

 of glancing shot to be considered ; and thus, when firing 

 at hares or rabbits, care should be taken to see that every 

 one is well clear of the line of fire for occasionally one 

 hears of shot glancing at most unaccountable angles. 

 The latter remarks apply with equal force to ground- 

 game shooting on gravelly land, or wherever flints or 

 other stones abound, as well as in some degree during 

 the prevalence of a hard frost. 



Having generally described modern methods of par- 

 tridge-shooting in a previous chapter that on dogs I 

 now only offer a few hints on driving. Year by year, 

 the system of driving partridges over the guns is coming 

 more into vogue. Force of circumstances is probably, 

 in many instances, a powerful incentive towards the 

 adoption of the practice. For instance, after very dry 

 summers, it maybe confidently anticipated that partridge- 

 driving will be resorted to in many situations where such 

 method has, seldom or never, been practised before. In 

 many districts after a drought, the autumn root crops are 

 a comparative failure, and other shelter for game also 

 being phenomenally scanty, it follows that driving must 

 necessarily be adopted as the only possible means of 



