130 GUNS 



on bitter winter evenings. And this I pledge myself 

 to — I will not copy anything out of the books, but 

 will talk only of things that many's the time I have 

 done myself, and joyed in the doing. 



Potting rabbits as they sat nibbling the short 

 grass in the woodland paths, or rides as we often 

 call them, was the way I began ; and it is the way, I 

 imagine, in which some thousands of young shooters 

 begin every year. You spy the rabbit a hundred 

 yards off or so, and creep up very craftily till you 

 are within range, say forty yards. Then, while he 

 is nibbling, you raise the gun to the right shoulder, 

 close the left eye with tremendous determination, 

 look along the line between the barrels with the 

 right eye till the little round sight at the end covers 

 the rabbit. Finally, you pull the trigger. 



It is rather a cold-blooded way of shooting com- 

 pared with the way we shall turn to directly, but as 

 a first step in shooting I do not know that you can 

 better it. You may practise no doubt, too, at paper 

 targets pinned up among the stems of underwood 

 or against trees — if the tree owner does not object ; 

 but, to shoot running or flying game well, the prac- 

 tical way is to begin by shooting sitting rabbits, or, 

 when you can find them, sitting wood-pigeons. 

 Blackbirds, thrushes, and other singing and small 

 perching birds you should let be ; they are such 

 little fellows for a great charge of number 5 

 or 6 shot, such as we shall use throughout these 

 chapters. 



It is an easy thing this shooting of the sitting 



