RABBITS, PARTRIDGES, PIGEONS 165 



a little distance away. He sticks to his fortress. 

 So it happens that the shooter has time to 

 take his stand deliberately before the rabbit bolts 

 out. 



If there are two guns shooting these bushes — 

 more than two is not in my view at all desirable — 

 they should take up their positions, of course, on 

 different sides. If you are by yourself you will be 

 able to cover a great deal of ground, and will have 

 a chance of getting a fair shot at whatever spot the 

 rabbit comes out. If the gamekeeper is with you, 

 he beats the bush and cheers on the dogs, as a rule, 

 from the opposite side to yours, hoping to make 

 the rabbit bolt towards the gun. 



But you often cannot be at all sure where the 

 rabbit will come out, or in what direction he will go 

 when out. The one thing sure is that he will travel 

 at a great pace. Sometimes he comes out to bolt 

 off almost between your legs ; sometimes he comes 

 out by the keeper, and takes such a line of flight 

 that you must not put up your gun for fear of ^* an 

 accident." The dogs being so near, it often hap- 

 pens that you dare not shoot for fear of touching 

 one of them. Occasionally a rabbit going full pelt 

 with the dogs at his heels, so that you cannot fire, 

 will turn off at quite a sharp angle, and then it is 

 just possible that you may be able to take him at 

 the right moment without risking the lives of the 

 dogs ; but such shots are not good for beginners. 

 Any fumbling over them may prove disastrous, for 

 the dogs are very near, though not absolutely in 



