HINTS ON GROUSE DRIVING. 149 



When the heather is high around where you are 

 shooting, and especially in the early morning when the 

 dew has not yet left it, the course of your shot pellets 

 can often be traced by the eye after pulling the 

 trigger, and you will be able to perceive in which 

 direction you have aimed, whether below or behind a 

 bird. Lesson No. 2. Again, when shooting at a 

 grouse coming straight at you, somewhat above the 

 level of the shooter's head, care should be taken to 

 ifire well up at him, or a visible scraping of a sort of 

 lane down his breast, and possibly the removal of a 

 portion of his tail, will be the sole result, the bird 

 going on as if nothing had happened. Lesson 

 No. 3. Whilst in shooting at a runner or bird on the 

 .ground the reverse aim should be adopted, and you 

 should try to fire under him. The proper way to 

 make certain of hitting any stationary object upon 

 the ground with a shot gun, is to aim carefully at the 

 earth, say a yard nearer to yourself than the birds, 

 .and gradually raise the barrels of the gun slowly 

 iuntil they cover the quarry, then instantly pull ; in 

 this way you will rarely if ever accomplish what so 

 many people are accustomed to be astonished at, the 

 missing of an easy sitting shot. This practice of shoot- 

 ing at birds just settling is, however, much to be 

 'deprecated, as it assuredly puts all birds that have 

 " grounded " within any reasonable distance of the 

 ;butts right back over the advancing beaters' heads ; 

 whereas if you keep quiet and only shoot in the air, 



