PLOVER SHOOTING. 213 



shoulder-piece. And here we may note, that 

 for this class of shooting the superior advan- 

 tages of the breech-loader over the muzzle- 

 loader are not at all obvious. The breech- 

 loader is of service when birds are being lured 

 by the cripples, and you must be prepared for 

 very quick firing ; but in all the other vicissi- 

 tudes of the pursuit the muzzle-loader seems to 

 tell better. For example, Eley's wire cartridges 

 are invaluable for plover shooting; yet, most 

 men' would hesitate to use them constantly 

 from a breech-loader. This, however, is a 

 vexed controversy, on which much has been, 

 and will be, said on both sides. 



The greater quantity of plover supplied to 

 the markets are probably netted. The regular 

 " haunts" of the birds, their conservative 

 habits, render them a prey to this kind of 

 poaching. Those hawked about the streets 

 in baskets will usually be found in poor com- 

 pany, such as the redshank, the curlew, and the 

 seapie, instead of the grouse, the partridge, or 

 the pheasant. The reason of this is, that they 

 have been amongst the coast plover, and have 

 been shot most likely by the Solent. They have 



