254 THE NEW FOREST 



boundary, just as my neighbours did on their 

 side of the fence. But I always had one or two 

 small sets of pens with breeding birds shut in them 

 which gave me a good supply of eggs ; and when 

 it seemed advisable, I bought a hundred or two 

 of eggs to supplement home production. 



These reared birds, after being fed, and kept 

 together with a barley stack or two until November, 

 were allowed to stray where they would. They 

 were never shot, in any systematic way, but 

 of course the licericees got plenty of the cocks. 

 That was what they were reared for. 



I have known licencees, shooting singly, to 

 get their 140 or so of pheasants in a season, and 

 bags of from 80 to 100 were common enough. 



Rabbits, however, as in most other places, 

 formed the weightiest part of the shooter's bag, 

 and afforded very excellent sport among the 

 furze brakes of the Forest. Good spaniels and 

 hardy ones were necessary for this work, as the 

 rabbits need a good deal of pressure to induce 

 them to leave such thick covert. In good 

 seasons 100 rabbits in a day to a couple of 

 shooters was no uncommon bag early in the 

 season, and from 500 to 700 rabbits in a season 

 have often been killed. 



Black game, alas ! have very nearly died out in 

 the New Forest, where once they were so plentiful. 



I 



