42 BIRD LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



which we plunged and pulled up at an old ruined chapel, 

 shaded by a large olive tree. Here begins oar shooting 

 ground, so we shoulder our cartridge bags, load up the guns, 

 and, leaving one man in charge of the lunch, set off with the 

 other and the dogs for the open macchie, or the close-leaved 

 and densely planted shrubberies of wild myrtle, arbutus, and 

 leutiscus that clothe nearly all the higher ground in Corsica 

 with a delightful canopy of evergreen verdure. Amongst 

 the various sweet berries of these shrubs astonishing hordes 

 of blackbirds and thrushes revel all day. We put them up 

 on all sides, to the great satisfaction of our French companion, 

 who began peppering away at the petit gibier, and we, with 

 a little hesitation, followed suit. It was pretty enough 

 shooting, however unorthodox. An infinite variety of brisk 

 little birds rose from the irregular growth of arbutus, and 

 with a couple of flicks of their wings w^ere over the bushes 

 and out of shot in an extraordinarily short space of time. 

 Nothing but the quickest of snap-shooting was possible, 

 and our light guns, and special small loads of powder and 

 shot, had to be very "straight" to keep up a creditable 



average. "W , the deadly on grouse, scored several misses 



when the fun began ; of course I did no better ; while B 



led us up the rises, fusilading as he went, as though we were 

 storming a Russian battery ! 



Where the arbutus berries were thickest a perfect cascade 

 of small birds, thrushes, blackbirds, and pipits rose on every 

 side. "No wonder there is so little game in the country," 

 said my companion, looking at me ruefully as he began his 

 third score of cartridges, " if much of this sort of thing goes 

 on ! " But I pointed out to him it was only an experiment, 

 as I much wanted to know where and how the French 

 markets were supplied with their small birds, and he sighed 

 and bowled over two thrushes right and left. 



A modification of this process is practised in the Ionian 

 Islands, and a correspondent has penned a pleasant account 

 of it, which I cannot resist reproducing. 



