356 SHOOTING. 



scene of the principal matches. The birds are 

 sprung from a trap, which is usually placed twenty- 

 one yards from the gun ; the birds of each person 

 are provided by his opponent ; blue rocks are the 

 favourites ; very heavy guns are used, but the 

 weight of shot is usually limited. The birds must 

 fall within a stated distance from the trap, or they 

 are not counted amongst the successful shots. 



O 



The Lark, Field-fare, Lapwing, Golden-plover, and 

 Dottrel. Larks and field-fares are often the object 

 of the young shooter's pursuit. Field-fares, the 

 blue-backs and red-wings, arrive in October, and 

 remain during winter. They are easily approached 

 during a frost, or when the ground is covered with 

 snow. They will then be found in search of the 

 berries of the mountain-ash, the holly, and the 

 hawthorn, and are killed in great numbers. Like 

 wood-pigeons, field-fares do not leave a tree, or rise 

 from the ground simultaneously, so that when one 

 bird flies off, if the shooter will hasten to the spot, 

 he will, in all probability, meet with a lagger. 



The lapwing or pewit is a bird much sought for 

 by the juvenile shooter. Lapwings are commonly 

 found on marshes, or wet land abounding in rushes. 

 Except during the season of incubation, they collect 

 in flocks, and are so very wary as to be difficult of 

 approach. They are often killed for the sake of 

 their toppings, which are useful to the angler. As 

 they wing round the shooter, it is extremely diffi- 

 cult to decide whether they are within range or 

 not ; they should be within a moderate distance 

 when fired at, or they will escape in the interstices 



