CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I PAGE 



WHEN I WAS YOUNG . 1 



My first shot Disastrous results The catapult A weapon 

 of precision Early experiences Begin my ornithological 

 collection Marlborough days Always in trouble- 

 Misunderstood "Dicky" Richardson's generosity The 

 " Viper " Clark incident My House Master's unfair- 

 ness Pat Drury How I outwitted him School and 

 town boys' enmity A duel with Dixon A battle royal 

 Temporary success A disastrous ending A final shot 

 Reginald Cholmondely His collections Happy days at 

 Condover The " tame " roebuck John Gould The 

 six-wired Bird of Paradise Gould's bad temper His 

 magnanimity Mark Twain Sharp the gamekeeper The 

 death of the greyhounds Methods of poaching hares 

 Early bicycles My first gun Wanderings by the sea 

 Three times round the Scottish coasts " Jet," my dog 

 A rough life Methods of hunting Loch Leven Shooting 

 and fishing there First visit to the Orkneys George 

 Jeffery The great snowstorm of January 1886 Snow- 

 bound in Thurso Capture of rare gulls How England 

 won the Rugby football match of 1886 Days in Orkney 

 Trout fishing Johnny Lyon's wonderful trout Stalking 

 Grey Mullet Sir William Harcourt His caution The 

 incident of the Black-throated Diver Bird-collecting and 

 its difficulties The Curlew Sandpiper Bad luck. 



CHAPTER II 



SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES IN SHOOTING ... 31 



The first ejector guns The three roebucks The de- 

 struction of New Mill My guns destroyed John White- 

 ford's plucky act My father's common-sense Shooting 

 in the Tay Estuary A dangerous place The risks of 

 punt -shooting Six seasons on the Northern Firths 

 Nearly drowned in the Eden Estuary A wonderful 

 escape The big gun bursts Hugh Smith Woodcock 

 hunting in August Five Woodcock killed from one spot 

 Unusual right and left shots Curious shots A big day at 

 Woodcock Do Woodcock carry their young? P. D. 

 Malloch His skill as a fisherman My first commission 



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