PHEASANT AND GAME PRESERVING 169 



by one pellet effectively are, he says, the brain, 

 the upper part of the back of the head, the spinal 

 column, the under part of the neck near the head 

 (wounding one of the larger blood-vessels) and 

 the heart. Preferring few large shot which 

 penetrate to many smaller ones, he writes that 

 a single pellet smashing any of the wing bones 

 puts the whole wing out of action and brings 

 down the bird. The Country Gentleman, in re- 

 printing the points of this article, refers to it as 

 " one of the best articles on shooting we have 

 read for a considerable time," and adds, " Mr. 

 Tegetmeier only gives us facts, on which he is 

 undoubtedly the greatest living authority." 



But not alone did the scientific destruction 

 of game interest him ; the preservation of a 

 rare species would occasionally inspire his pen, 

 as when he wrote his vigorous pamphlet on 

 sand grouse, pleading with sportsmen to spare 

 them. It is entitled, " Pallas' s Sand Grouse : 

 History, Habits, Food and Migrations ; with 

 Hints as to its Utility and a Plea for its Preser- 

 vation." The first records of the occurrence in 

 Great Britain of these extraordina^ visitants 

 from the Steppes of Asia, I find, are given for 

 July and November 1859, when a few examples 

 of the bird hitherto unknown as a British species 

 were shot in England. In 1863 a similar invasion, 

 on a larger scale, had taken place, when the 

 birds were remorselessly exterminated wherever 



