PIGEON AND SPARROW TRAP-SHOOTING. 7 



flying shot may occasionally be obtained, and no sportsman 

 worthy of the name would think of shooting at rooks while 

 sitting, excepting with the object of filling a pie. A strong 

 shooting gun and No. 5 shot will be required, or a rifle of 

 small bore specially made for rook and rabbit shooting, as 

 will be explained under the head of THE EIFLE. When the 

 latter is used, the rook may be shot sitting without any com- 

 punction, because, at one hundred yards, which is often the 

 distance of the shooter from his mark, it is by no means easy 

 to hit so small an object. With the shot-gun, on the con- 

 trary, the distance is the only difficulty, and it is often only 

 by getting directly under the trees, that these birds can be 

 brought within forty or fifty yards, which is a fair range for 

 an ordinary gun. Eley's cartridges may be used even at one 

 hundred yards, with a good prospect of cutting down young 

 rooks ; but unless the trees are low, when loose shot will 

 succeed, I should strongly recommend the rifle, as being more 

 sportsmanlike than the shot-gun. The particular kind of 

 rifle suited to this purpose will be hereafter described. 



CHAPTER II. 

 PIGEON AND SPARROW TRAP-SHOOTING. 



REMARKS LAWS OP PIGEON SHOOTING PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR 



PIGEON AND SPARROW TRAP-SHOOTING. 



PIGEON SHOOTING for some years past has been confined to 

 the frequenters of low public-houses in the large towns ; but 

 in the year 1858 the amusement suddenly became fashion- 

 able, Lord Huntiiigfield, the Earl of Stamford, the Hon. 

 Dudley Ward, and Mr. Bateson, having repeatedly shot 

 matches at Hornsey Wood House, which has now taken the 

 place of the Red House, Battersea, once the scene of the 

 triumphs of Mr. Osbaldeston, Captain Ross, and others of 

 almost equal note. A great improvement has been intro- 



