246 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



by springing up from under his feet. In such case the 

 tyro will do well to refrain from the first natural impulse 

 to throw up the gun to his shoulder, as after the lapse of 

 a second or two he will find that a steady and far more 

 certain shot may be made at fair sporting range. 



It may be conjectured from this that the landrail does 

 not rank very high as a sport-giving bird. Sportsmen 

 shooting over dogs may often pronounce the landrail, 

 with its running, skulking habit, a thorough-going 

 nuisance, from the fact that its appearance on the scene 

 breaks the routine of their sport, and moreover is well 

 calculated to impair the efficiency of highly-trained 

 dogs. 



To the youthful gunner, however, this scarcely applies, 

 the active pursuit of the landrail, once entered upon, 

 being usually much to his liking. In such pursuits he 

 may experience many moments of keen excitement, 

 comparable only to that derived from that usually 

 boisterous fun known as a rat-hunt. Indeed, from the 

 speed with which it traverses thick and tangled covert, 

 the landrail may well be likened to a rat. But the pos- 

 session of wings which the bird may use in order to 

 effect an escape just when excitement runs highest, lends 

 an additional charm to the rail-hunt in the eyes of the 

 school-boy gunner. Given a good stretch of big clover 

 aftermath, or other suitable and sufficiently thick shelter 

 containing several landrails, the young gunner who is 

 accompanied by keen-hunting spaniel, or even terrier, may 

 get many half-hours of first-class fun in pursuit of these 

 winged rats. 



However much the more .-sedate gunner may resent 

 the intrusion of the landrail upon his sport of partridge- 

 shooting over dogs, few old hands will be found refusing 



