154 GUNS 



whatever the lay may be, and these, by rushing for- 

 ward, you will put up, and so lose the chance of 

 getting. Complete coolness and command over 

 yourself are essential to excellence in shooting. 

 When a covey rises within range, and all the shots 

 that are practicable have been fired at the birds 

 which comprise it, or when a covey rises out of gun- 

 shot, you stand still and mark carefully where it 

 goes to. '' Mark ! Mark ! " is the imperative of the 

 moment — the only talking which is permissible out 

 partridge-shooting. 



Partridges marked down are sometimes pursued 

 at once, sometimes left till the field they rose from 

 is well shot over. When presently you come near 

 the spot where the birds were seen to alight, be 

 ready for a shot or shots at any moment, but do 

 not get your gun up till the birds are up and the 

 time has come to cover them and fire. It looks 

 ugly, just as it does in covert shooting, to see a man 

 holding his gun to his shoulder before the game is 

 up. The swing is the thing here as in snap-shooting 

 at rabbits. 



The prettiest sport of the day is when a covey of 

 partridges scatters in a field of clover or roots, and 

 the isolated birds are picked up one by one as they 

 rise. Some people, when the birds are wild and 

 rising out of range, will fire a long shot at them on 

 the chance of scattering the covey ; but this, in my 

 experience, is not often a success. When you are 

 walking up very wild and wary partridges, you 

 must avail yourself of every scrap of cover in the way 



