COCK SHOOTING. 163 



is always a consideration of some importance 

 the birds are larger. Again, cock shooting 

 tries a man's hand with every variety of shot. 

 It is out of the question to determine, when a 

 dog points, or when the cheery sound of 

 " Mark cock !" rings through the wood, 

 whether the snap or the mode deliberate must 

 be adopted as the most suited for adding to 

 the contents of the bag. Naturalists tell us 

 that the eyes of the cock are made for feeding 

 in the twilight or in the dusk, that it is a noc- 

 turnal fowl, as liable to blunder in the daytime 

 as Minerva's pet when startled from an ivy 

 bush into the noontide sun. This we shall not 

 dispute ; but it is a fact that a cock when 

 flushed in a grove of thick firs will often dart 

 swift as a swallow through the trees, twirling in 

 and out between them, and often when the 

 gun is levelled give a sudden toss and tumble 

 over the branches into the sky line, where he 

 sometimes leaves his soul or his instinct : being 

 caught upon the very hop, as it were, by a 

 gentleman duly posted and otherwise qualified 

 to interrupt the manoeuvre. Many theories 

 are adduced to account for this phenomenon, 



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