298 SHOOTING. 



and to suffer the net to be drawn over them, so 

 that both dog and birds were entangled in the toil. 

 In this manner partridges are still frequently taken 

 by poachers in the night. A poachers dog is 

 sometimes known by his habit of crouching when 

 close upon game, and this circumstance not unfre- 

 quently leads to a detection of the practices of his 

 master. Netting was considered as a fair mode 

 of taking game until the fowling-piece came into 

 general use. 



At the time of the accession of the house of Han- 

 over, falconry, netting, and shooting, were contem- 

 porary amusements. The number of shooters was 

 very limited, the inferiority of the guns and am- 

 munition being such as not to induce their general 

 adoption ; hawking was going out of favour ; and, 

 of the three sports, netting was the most commonly 

 practised, until the beginning of the reign of George 

 III., after which time it was no longer deemed the 

 sport of gentlemen. At what time the fowling-piece 

 first came into use is uncertain. We learn from 

 Pope that pheasant shooting was in vogue in Wind- 

 sor forest during the reign of Anne : 



See from the brake the whirring pheasant springs, 

 And mounts exulting on triumphant wings ; 

 Short is his joy, he feels the fiery wound, 

 Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground ! 



Shooting as practised with guns to which flint 

 and steel locks were attached may be said to have 

 risen and fallen with the Georgian era. During 

 the latter part of that period, great improvements 

 were made in all the implements and materials of 



