i64 GUNS 



rabbit, do not like the prickles of the furze, which 

 are scarcely less formidable than the quills of the 

 hedgehog. So they commonly make much to-do 

 before actually getting into one of these bushes. 

 They make a point of not going in at all before 

 they have satisfied themselves that a rabbit is there. 

 A trustworthy terrier or spaniel will, with rare 

 exceptions, be able to tell you without going in 

 whether a rabbit is lying in one of these bushes. 

 It will run round and sniff, now on the ground, 

 now in the air. If a rabbit is in the bush, the dog 

 gives tongue, unless it is one of the absolutely silent 

 hunting order, and even then its behaviour will 

 usually give you a pretty good notion of whether 

 you are to have a shot or not. Dogs, well or 

 moderately well trained, are very partial to this 

 branch of rabbiting. After a little practice they 

 seem quite to know what is expected from them 

 when the shooter turns towards these bushes. 

 Running forward, they work round bush after bush 

 till one is reached that clearly holds a rabbit. 

 Rabbits have a way of lying very close indeed in 

 these bushes. I have noticed that rabbits in the 

 larger but thinner coverts, after they have been 

 repeatedly hustled about, two or three times in the 

 same week, in the same places, often start up from 

 their forms well in front of the dogs which are 

 giving tongue, and steal right away. But, in the 

 places where I have shot, the rabbit which is lying 

 in the isolated furze-bush is far less inclined to stir 

 when he hears dogs, beaters, and guns who are 



