RABBIT-SHOOTING. 37 



this cause not long ago, the driver of the machine being 

 thrown from his seat and fearfully injured, if not 

 killed, by the knives. 



Another common and favourite way of shooting 

 rabbits is with ferrets. As long as the rabbits bolt 

 freely and the ground is not too open, the sport is 

 good enough. But as a rule the rabbit gets bothered 

 by the noise of the guns and declines to bolt. Result : 

 a ferret " lying up/' a long delay, and considerable 

 boredom. 



Another, and to my mind the best of all ways of 

 getting sport out of the rabbit, consists in stalking 

 them with the rifle. As the sun begins to sink low 

 in the summer evenings, the rabbits sit out in dozens 

 in the meadows. The stalking required to get within 

 fair rook-rifle range is not very great, but it gives an 

 interest to the affair, and a rabbit is a smallish mark 

 for a bullet. I need hardly say he must, if near a 

 burrow, be shot through the head or heart, or he will 

 infallibly escape. The drawback to these small-bore 

 rifles is that they are difficult to clean, and the grooves 

 of the rifling lead up very fast, producing most 

 eccentric shooting.^ 



Before going to stalk rabbits with an unknown 

 rifle, it is always time well expended to fire half-a- 

 dozen shots at a mark, on a board. Even if the rifle 

 is by a good maker it is possible the sights may have 

 got knocked somewhat to one side. Besides, one 

 wants to know whether one should take a fine or 

 coarse sight. I recollect going out once with a 

 * See " Hints on Equipment." 



