CONTENTS 

 CHAPTER I ,A0» 



WHEN I WAS YOUNG . 1 



My first shot — Disastroiis results — The cataptilt — 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 Gotdd — The 

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

 magnanimity — ^Mark Twain — Sharp the gamekeeper — The 

 death of the greyhoixnds — ^Methods of poaching hares — 

 Early bicycles — ^My first gun — Wanderings by the sea — 

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

 A rough Ufe — 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 ... 81 



The first ejector guns — ^The three roebucks — ^The de- 

 struction of New ]\fill — ^My guns destroyed — John White - 

 ford's plucky act — ^My father's conunon-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 kUled from one spot — 

 UnTisual right and left shots — Curious shots — A big day at 

 Woodcock — Do Woodcock carry their yoting? — P. D. 

 Malloch — His skill as a fisherman — ^My first commission — 



vii 



