274 KRIDER'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



shooter, good, bad, or indifferent. We have seen 

 a bird adjudged to a fellow who had over-shot it, 

 entirely because it had been gathered within the 

 bounds, solely from its inability to fly out of them. 

 It would be well if one person should have the 

 handling and gathering of the birds. He should 

 also pull the string of the trap, and should be ap- 

 pointed by the judge on the ground. The latter 

 should always ask the shooter if he is ready, 

 and upon being answered in the affirmative, 

 should, himself, give the word to the runner to 

 let the bird fly. The runner should not stir to 

 gather a bird until ordered by the judge. In a 

 doubtful case, the direct distance should be mea- 

 sured by the judge with a graduated line, and in 

 doing this he may be assisted by the person who 

 gathers the birds. No person except the arbiter 

 and the runner, should be allowed to address or 

 stand within ten feet of the shooter, after he has 

 taken his post, and, of course, the shooter should 

 heel the mark and keep the butt of his gun 

 down until the birds rise. If a bird refuses to 

 fly after a trap is sprung, the shooter should 

 wait two minutes by the watch of the judge ; he 

 should then hand his gun to the runner to shoot 

 the bird on the ground, and a second bird should 

 be placed in the trap, as soon as the same marks- 



