12 VARIETIES OP SHOOTING. 



frequently complaints of it without foundation. Just before 

 putting the birds into the trap, it is usual for the man to 

 pull a few feathers from the tail coverts, which is done to 

 make them lively, and thus go off keenly. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, one or two wing-feathers are included in the pull, with 

 the intention of causing the flight to be slow, and for the 

 purposes of fraud ; but the person supplying the birds gene- 

 rally knows the quality of each too well to require to have 

 recourse to so clumsy an expedient. 



In gathering a doubtful bird, great quickness of eye, legs, 

 and hand are required ; for it often happens that one will 

 drop from a momentary stunning without being winged or 

 mortally wounded in the body or head. In such a case, the 

 moment the man approaches within a yard or two, the pigeon 

 rises, and probably just scrambles over the boundary. The 

 skilful gatherer creeps stealthily and in a crouching attitude 

 up to within a couple or three yards of his victim, when 

 stooping as low as he can without interfering with the action 

 of his legs, he rushes with a short and very quick action of 

 them to and by the bird, and while passing, picks it up by 

 the head, or sometimes, when he has a large hand, by the 

 back, just behind the wings. To do this neatly requires 

 great practice, and as it is of considerable importance to 

 success in a match, a good gatherer is highly valued and pro- 

 portionally paid. Dogs are sometimes used to retrieve 

 pigeons, but they are not nearly so clever as such active men 

 as the son of the celebrated Barber, the well-known London 

 purveyor of pigeons. 



The attitude in shooting varies according to the number of 

 traps used. Thus with one or even two traps only, it is 

 customary to adopt the ordinary shooting attitude, with the 

 left leg advanced ; but where five traps are used, this posi- 

 tion does not give a sufficient command of ground, the five 

 traps nearly occupying a fifth of the surrounding circle. 

 Hence the skilful pigeon-shot stands square to the front, 

 with both toes touching the mark, and with heels about two 

 feet apart, more or less, according to his height. In this 

 position, being opposite the centre trap, he can turn either 

 way equally well; and it is found that it gives him far more 

 facility, especially in using the second barrel, than the ordi- 



