350 SHOOTING. 



has passed him, or has turned aside. The moment 

 it has altered its course the gun should be brought 

 up, and no time should be lost in firing. 



It is not easy at all times to form a correct idea 

 of the distance of a bird from the gun. The nature 

 of the situation, and the state of the weather often 

 deceive the eye. Thus, on a bright day birds ap- 

 pear to be near, and on a dull day distant. It is 

 much easier to est mate the distance of a bird in 

 small inclosures, where hedges or trees serve as 

 guides, than on open ground. The hedges, indeed, 

 tend to deceive the unpractised eye; the object is sup- 

 posed to be much further off, while on open ground 

 it is supposed to be nearer, than it really is. It 

 is often very difficult to determine whether a grouse 

 is within range ; and sometimes the mist increases 

 the difficulty, for then the bird is either scarcely 

 seen, or else magnified, by the sun's rays gleaming 

 through the mist, to an unnatural size. In general, 

 grouse are further off than they are supposed to be. 

 The shooter, however, has a peculiar sight : every 

 bird he brings down, in good style, is at sixty yards 

 distance. It is amusing sometimes to hear persons 

 talk, after they have been watched, of the distances 

 at which they have effected their shots ; they ever 

 think the game so much further off than it really 

 was. The sportsman who has not convinced him- 

 self by actual measurement, often seems to be la- 

 bouring under a species of hallucination when speak- 

 ing of his distances, and, if he bets on them, to a 

 certainty loses. Birds killed at fifteen paces are 

 thought to be at twenty-five, and those at twenty- 



