74 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



Chace of Dartmoor." Armed with this document, and happy in the acquisi- 

 tion of the aforementioned setter, the sportsman retires to rest with the 

 intention of opening the campaign against the Snipe on the morrow. 



September ist is the day on which all shooting begins, or rather should 

 begin, in this district, and, quite apart from winter visitants, good sport may 

 be had in that month amongst the home-bred contingent in the mires. Of 

 these, Fox Tor Mire is far the most famous. Distant about two miles, as 

 the crow flies, from Tor Royal, it is easy to find in broad daylight, and as 

 we had inspected the spot from a distance on the previous day, we had little 

 fear of being unable to find it on the succeeding morning ; the only question 

 was whether we could be first upon the scene. But, alas ! we had failed 

 to take into account one most important element in all sport on Dartmoor 

 the mist ! At five o'clock the men and the dog were up and ready to start, 

 but a dense mist covered the whole country with its impenetrable shroud. 

 Under the circumstances it was, of course, folly to start, but as the natives 

 confidently prophesied that it would lift, we set forth, quickly lost the way, 

 and marched grimly about the moor for nearly two hours in the wrong 

 direction. Then the mist did lift ; we found a cottage, and were directed once 

 more to the mire, said to be then five miles off. We could at all events 

 plume ourselves on having avoided the inevitable circle. There was now 

 little difficulty in discovering the way, more especially as we were aided in 

 our search by the constant report of a gun, and in the end we arrived upon 

 the ground in time to congratulate another sportsman, who had worked it 

 thoroughly, and bagged eight and a half couple ; we ourselves got one Teal. 



Dennabridge Mire is the next best place for Snipe, which are, of course, 

 the most numerous game birds on the moor, but the greatest prize is the 

 Blackcock. Though not really uncommon within the Duchy shooting rights, 

 they are, nevertheless, very hard to obtain, chiefly, I believe, owing to the 

 fact that they are poached and persecuted before the season proper begins, 

 and consequently by the ist of September it is a difficult matter to get near 

 them. Be that as it may, they frequent mostly those hillsides where the 

 heather mingles with long ruddy grass, and there are often some on a piece 

 of ground answering to this description on the south-east of Fox Tor Mire. 

 A second favourite haunt is the stretch of moorland between Two Bridges 

 and Great Mis Tor. Here, again, the heather is high and in clumps, and 

 the same sort of grass grows amongst it. Black-game may not be killed 

 after December loth. 



Beside the Blackcock, one occasionally meets with a covey of Partridges 

 or a Landrail. Such is the shooting which may. be had on Dartmoor in 



