PARTRIDGE SHOOTING. 385 



of resort. Heights and flats must be avoided, 

 except where there are small enclosures well pro- 

 tected by double hedges, under the shelter of which 

 birds will remain. The shooter who beats the 

 south or west side of a hedge, will generally obtain 

 more shots than he who beats the north or east 

 side. Unless there be continual rain, or it be the 

 depth of winter, birds will visit their basking 

 place some time in the course of the day, whether 

 the sun shine or not. The basking-place is gene- 

 rally, but not invariably, on the sunny side of the 

 hedge. Birds may be most easily approached in 

 fine weather. All kinds of birds lie better in 

 small enclosures than in large ones, that is, when 

 the cover in each is alike. It need scarcely be 

 added, that the more bushy the brambles, or the 

 higher the grass, rushes, or heather, the more 

 closely will lie the game. 



It is almost as necessary to the shooter as to 

 the mariner to observe the wind. Whenever it is 

 practicable, he should beat up wind. On entering 

 an enclosure his eye will tell him where the best 

 beat lies. The field may be so large that it will 

 be necessary to walk across it several times. The 

 shooter having discovered what he supposes to be 

 the best beat, and having learnt the way of the 

 wind, should, as he walks against the wind, tra- 

 verse the best ground in order to give the dog the 

 wind ; for the dog will not only find more game 

 by beating up wind than down, but the birds will 

 lie better. When the shooter is obliged to walk 

 down wind, he should traverse the most unlikely 



