126 BIRD LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



still making their early morning meal in the soft ground 

 among the sedges, or in pleasant alleys between the banks 

 of bracken, just gaining its autumn tints of brown and amber 

 lovely enough, though somewhat melancholy, as marking 

 the downward steps of the glorious summer. 



We have as many varieties of shots as we could wish, and, 

 in places where the broken rock masses are piled numerous 

 and thickly, with overhanging brushwood, the shooting is 

 very difficult. Now a bird will slip quietly off a ledge of 

 such a pile of stones, and, gliding down hawklike with out- 

 stretched wings, will, unless we are very sharp, be out of 

 sight before our gun can be brought to position. 



Other birds will rise from among the thick tangle of 

 vegetation and debris underneath fallen trees as the shooter 

 approaches, stealing away on the far side with most aggra- 

 vating expedition. 



To show, however, how close the game will sometimes lie 

 in such places, I may mention that on one occasion we came 

 to a spot where some fallen timber was in confusion amongst 

 the ferns under a clump of birches. We halted, and, not 

 seeing any game in the neighbourhood, lit our pipes, and 

 while resting for a few minutes, made, as usual, a fire, 

 the smoke of which blew about in every direction ; and yet, 

 when we once more moved forward, our guns carried 

 idly under our arms, up sprang a blackcock, followed by 

 four of his boon companions, from a little island of bracken 

 that we had looked upon with contempt. We were so aston- 

 ished and taken aback that a couple of charges of shot sent 

 after them did not touch a feather. 



With such varied adventures sometimes, by blunders 

 or lost chances, going down deeply in our own estimation ; 

 and, again, soothing our ruffled spirits by a brilliant snap- 

 shot, or good piece of luck the bag all the time grew 

 heavier and heavier, until the finishing touch was put to our 

 endurance by a gigantic blue hare, which, getting up between 

 us, was fired at so exactly on the same moment that the two 



