PHEASANT-SHOOTING. 255 



be incomplete without some remarks on what, as I 

 have said, newspapers call a " battue," but the latter- 

 day sportsman a " pheasant-shoot." Although the 

 First of October is legally the commencement of the 

 long-tail's troubles, there is really but little done, 

 except in the rough way I have described, till 

 November is nearly out. Both on account of the 

 beaters, and on account of the guns, it is desirable 

 to postpone operations till most of the leaves are off 

 the trees. On the other hand the keeper is always 

 anxious that it should not be put off too late. The 

 pheasant is naturally a wanderer, and it requires both 

 high feeding and care to induce them to stay in the 

 coverts where they are originally turned down. 



Foxhounds, again, are prejudicial to the ultimate 

 bag, and if they run through the coverts a few times 

 they move a large number of the birds, some of which 

 do not ever return again. It is usually the custom to 

 notify the M. F. H. when the day for shooting certain 

 coverts is fixed, or approximately so. He may then 

 be relied on to do all in his power to keep his hounds 

 from disturbing them, for " live and let live " is the 

 only possible maxim on which fox-hunting can be 

 carried on nowadays. Perhaps " kill and let kill " ex- 

 presses the matter more correctly in this case. 



Let me turn again to some of my old diaries and 

 find a good day's covert-shooting. I may say in this 

 kind of sport I consider the term "good" as relative 

 to the head of game brought to hand. No other 

 sport with which I am acquainted admits of this 

 test. 



