66 NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE HARE 



and duly consigned to the pocket of the itinerant 

 poacher. 



About the time that Toodle -Doodle perambulated 

 the neighbourhood of Perth in quest of hares, there 

 dwelt in Strageath two ploughmen, who killed a great 

 many hares in a similar way. Their weapon was like- 

 wise the throw-stick ; but they used it rather differently 

 from Toodle Doodle. They trained the farmyard collie 

 to drive hares. Their mode of proceeding was to wait 

 inside the gate of a field — one standing on each side 

 of the posts— and send the dog round the field to hunt 

 for hares. It he found one he was sure to drive it up 

 to the gate, where the poachers w^ere waiting for their 

 quarry, armed with their short sticks. They threw 

 their sticks in turn at the forelegs of the hare ; if one 

 of them missed her, his mate was tolerably sure to 

 succeed in bringing her down. The distance which 

 they preferred to throw measured about thirty yards. 

 The more expert of these two blackguards was carry- 

 handed, i.e. left-handed. The dexterity which he dis- 

 played would have done credit to an Australian black. 

 But, of course, his skill would have been of compara- 

 tively small service, had he not enlisted the intelligence 

 of the dog in his illicit pursuit. 



Apropos of dogs, Mr. L'Aigle Cole lays it down 

 emphatically that ' a foremost necessity for poaching ' 



