AUTUMN SHOOTING. 321 



bably to wound and cripple half a dozen, and bring down 

 none. 



Coolly select the outside birds on your own hand, 

 those that go to the right, if you are standing to the right, 

 and vice versa, leaving the balance to the skill of your 

 companion ; if they rise very close at hand, let the first 

 bird go fifteen yards before you raise your gun, then cover 

 him, pull your trigger, cover another, and fire as quickly 

 as you possibly can. If you have held straight, your brace 

 of birds will be dead at about twenty and thirty yards' 

 distance ; at which range the No. 8 shot will have had 

 space to spread fully, without losing force, and will kill its 

 object clean without any risk of tearing it to pieces. The 

 next thing is to mark the birds carefully ; to do this, fix 

 the eye on them steadily as they skate away, gradually 

 lowering their flight never take the eye off them for a 

 moment ; if they sink into a dip or hollow of the ground, 

 cast your eye forward in the line of their previous flight, 

 and if they reappear beyond it, you will catch them again. 

 If not, you may beat for them in that vicinity, judging by 

 their elevation above the ground when you last saw them 

 how much farther they will have gone. If the wind be 

 high, and they are flying with it, make plenty of allowance 

 for that. They will often skate before it across two or 

 three fields, and over as many fences, especially if they lie 

 down hill, and if there be good lying ground beyond. 



If they enter a wood, they are almost sure not to leave 



it on the other side, and you can guess with some accuracy 



how far they have gone into it, by the height at which 



they enter it, though something will depend on the nature 



14* 



