190 THE GROUSE 



their flight at which a startling apparition 

 will make them swerve violently in the 

 required direction, and send them over 

 the guns without, probably, exactly know- 

 ing how they got there. The essence of 

 success in flanking is unexpectedness ; the 

 flanker should appear to the birds, not as 

 a man with a flag, but as a sudden, un- 

 foreseen, and unapprehended danger. 

 The good flanker is worth his weight in 

 gold. 



Back flanking, that is to say, turning 

 the birds after they have passed the guns, 

 does not generally receive the attention 

 it deserves. One drive should feed 

 another, and the success of later drives 

 may be placed beyond doubt if some 

 attention be bestowed on the flight of 

 the birds after they have passed the 

 butts, and men judiciously posted to guide 

 them into the required direction. 



The time each drive takes should be 

 reckoned with, and their number limited 

 accordingly : it is a fatal mistake to try 

 and cram too much into one day. The 



