92 GAME BIRDS AND SHOOTING-SKETCHES 



obtain the former he is learning something new in every 

 shot that he fires, having to make a different calculation 

 for the pace of each species, and knowing that by practice 

 at this kind of sport he will greatly improve his shooting ; 

 whereas in the latter case a man is just a little apt to get 

 careless in his shooting by undertaking the killing of a 

 large number of birds of the same sort in succession, 

 though in reality an equal amount of skill is necessary. 

 Besides, no sportsman cares to know for certain what he is 

 to fire at next : he much prefers to use his own powers of 

 observation in recognising at once, when shooting on new 

 ground, the spots that are likely to hold the different 

 kinds of game, and feels that his knowledge of natural 

 history is of some use to him when he grasses his Snipe 

 neatly before it has gone half a dozen yards from the bit 

 of wet ground in front ; while Mr. Jones, on his right, has 

 been either asleep or has just stopped at that unfortunate 

 moment to adjust his bootlace or have a " wee dram." 

 Though probably quite as good a shot, Mr. Jones evidently 

 had not been using his eyes before he selected to halt, and 

 therefore has probably lost his one chance of a Snipe for 

 the day. 



Perhaps nowhere in the United Kingdom can prettier 

 mixed bags be made than at Murthly, one of the most 

 beautiful estates in the Highlands, about fifteen miles 

 north of Perth. This delightful shooting my father has 

 rented for the last fifteen years from Sir Douglas 



/ 



Stewart, and on this ground we can get a very fair day's 

 sport from the 1st of August to the last day of the season. 

 Its chief attraction lies in a most delightful little bit of 

 moor of about 400 acres known as " the Bog," which may 



