THE BLUE HARE -POACHING- HAWKING 99 



and hopping along the hillside, now sitting up to 

 reconnoitre, now scudding in terror as if the beaters 

 were at their very heels. Lower down, scattered 

 single shots tell us that the extreme left is engaged, 

 and in a few minutes a brisk fusillade has begun 

 Near to the rock behind which we sit are two of 

 the little paths we have described, one above and 

 one below, and it is curious to note how every hare 

 follows one line or the other without divergence. 

 The range is soon established, and as each hare 

 emerges from the shelter of a big rock on the one 

 path, and crosses a flat patch of grass on the other, 

 he has to be rolled over cleanly and well. As 

 sport, or as a test of good shooting, it must be owned 

 that this form of hare-killing has but little to recom - 

 mend it. Were it not for the necessity of killing 

 down these prolific little creatures, and for the great 

 charm and beauty of the surroundings, few sportsmen 

 would care to take part in such drives ; but on shootings 

 where hares are numerous they are a necessity. On 

 some hills and in some years the number that may be 

 killed seems to depend simply upon the time and 

 trouble that are taken about the matter. Many big 

 bags have been made, especially in Perthshire, but 

 the largest of which I have a record was made in 

 November 1889, when six guns shooting at Logie- 



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