MANAGEMENT OF THE BEAT. 45 



stubbles or in the turnips, they will not lie till the dew is 

 off, and, according to the season, the commencement of the 

 day's sport must be delayed till nine or ten o'clock. In 

 every case a good marker is a sine qud non, unless the modern 

 system of driving in to the turnips is adopted, and then it 

 is not required. As, however, everything depends upon the 

 plan adopted, it will be well to consider the two as quite 

 distinct. 



In the old-fashioned mode, a brace of steady pointers and 

 one or two markers being provided, the stubbles are entered 

 as soon as the dew is off the ground, taking care to beat " up 

 wind," and in such a direction as to drive the birds towards 

 your own ground, and, if possible, where there is a piece 

 of turnips, seed clover, or potatoes, any of which is likely to 

 hold the birds when they leave the stubble-fields. The 

 pointers should not range very wide, and should beat out all 

 the ground carefully, avoiding the fault, which is so often 

 permitted, of allowing them to go straight into the centre, 

 where birds, it is true, are very apt to be, but in reaching 

 which part many other likely spots are left unbeaten. The 

 sportsman or sportsmen should walk well up to their dogs, 

 but without hurrying them ; for there is as much harm done 

 by walking too fast as by lagging too far behind. When a 

 covey is found early in the season, they should be approached 

 steadily and in perfect silence ; then, as soon as they rise, let 

 the first bird which shows itself, and which will almost inva- 

 riably be one of the old ones, be singled out and shot when 

 it gets to the proper distance. If two friends are shooting 

 together, each will single out a bird on either side of the 

 covey, avoiding the " ruck," the shooting into which is un- 

 sportsmanlike and cruel. The centre of the charge is the 

 only part to be relied on for killing with certainty, and as 

 this can only take in one or, at most, two birds, the rest 

 would run the risk of being wounded without being killed. 

 As the covey fly off, the marker, or in his absence the shooter, 

 must keep his eye on them till they alight, and carefully 

 note the exact spot. In doing this, if the flight is a long 

 one and the covey gets out of sight on account of the dis- 

 tance, the eye should be kept well forward on their line, and 

 generally the flutter of the wings, which precedes the settling 



