NOTES BY AN OLD SPORTSMAN 287 



Four and five young at a birth are not at 

 all uncommon occurrences. 



A very extraordinary thing happened 

 when I was shooting with the late Mr. 

 Walter Phipps. We were working down 

 the banks of a creek, one on each side, not 

 far from Changchow on the Grand Canal. 

 My dog put up a hare which made for a 

 small stone bridge which crossed the creek. 

 Phipps' dog happened to be at the other 

 side of the bridge. Puss was so terrified 

 that she made a mad jump right into the 

 jaws of my companion's dog, a big black 

 retriever. 



There must be a very strong and attrac- 

 tive scent about hedgehogs. Once when 

 near the Four Waters on the Soochow 

 Creek, a spaniel I had brought me in rapid 

 succession from amongst some old coffin 

 and decayed timber seven tightly rolled 

 hogs. The artistic manner in which the 

 dog first tackled the quills and then tenderly 

 carried the animal was a sight worth re- 

 membering. 



The same dog once brought me four 

 leverets from the same nest, which I only 

 discovered by following the animal return- 

 ing for more, where was yet a fifth. It is 



