TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN SPORTING. 143 



When you find and rouse up the stag and buck, then 

 they are said to he emprimed : unkennel the fox, then 

 he is on the pad ; dig the hadger, unvent the otter, 

 uncouch the wild boar, untree the squirrel and marten- 

 cat, start the hare, bolt the rabbit. To investigate, 

 or follow by the prints of the feet is a great qualifica- 

 tion in a sportsman. They are called the slot, or view 

 of deer, of all kind. You may know when they have 

 been coursed, by the cleft widening, and the dew-claws 

 printing the ground; if an old one, by his gait, i. e. 

 manner of walking or straining, which latter is at full 

 speed : he does not overreach as young ones do. The 

 seal of an otter ; the ball of a fox ; the pricks of a hare ; 

 the prints of a badger, &c ; scratching of rabbits. Of 

 pheasants, grouse, partridges, quails, and rails, the 

 rode ; of woodcocks and snipes, the creeps : the traces 

 of all, in the snow. The excrement or ordure is called 

 the suage of an otter, the fumet or furnishings of deer, 

 the billot of a fox, the fiants of a badger, the lesses of a 

 wild boar, the buttons or croteys of the hare and rabbit, 

 the spraints of the marten-cat, &c. ; the droppings of 

 pheasants, partridges, &c. ; chalkings and markings of 

 woodcocks ; and mutings of snipes. The tail is called 

 the pole, potter, or eel of an otter ; the single of deer, 

 the brush of a fox ; the white tip, the chape ; the stump 

 of a badger ; the wreath of wild swine ; the brush of 

 the squirrel and marten-cat ; the scut of the hare and 

 rabbit ; the drag of polecats, stoats, &c. ; the train or 

 pole of the pheasant. 



