PHEASANT-SHOOTING IN THE WEALD. 175 



but these only serve to prove the rule, and in 

 point of massacre fall far short of an ordinary 

 Norfolk performance.* 



How different is the pursuit of the pheasant 

 with the aid of spaniels in the thick covers of the 

 weald, or tracking him with a single steady setter 

 among some of the wilder portions of the forest 

 range ! intently observing your dog, and antici- 

 pating the wily artifices of some old cock, with 

 spurs as long as a dragoon's, who will sometimes 

 lead you for a mile through bog, brake, fern 

 and heather, before the sudden drop of your 

 staunch companion, and a rigidity in all his limbs, 

 satisfy you that you have at last compelled the 

 bird to squat under that wide holly-bush, from 

 whence you kick him up, and feel some little 

 exultation as you bring him down with a snap- 

 shot, having only caught a glimpse of him through 



* A friend of mine has favoured me with the following 

 report of four consecutive days' work during last Novem- 

 ber, on a well-known manor in Norfolk. His brother, 

 who was one of the party, furnished the bulletin. 



Head. 



1st day 7 guns 564 



2nd day 5 guns (in an outlying cover) 187 



3rd day 8 guns 738 



4th day 6 guns ... 626 



Total . 2115 



