392 SHOOTING. 



notice of them, he should ever be on the alert for 

 snap shots. 



A short double-barrelled fowling-piece, of wide 

 bore, is preferable to a long one. The shot should 

 be large, and it is well to use plenty of it. A close- 

 shooting gun is not to be recommended to the 

 pheasant shooter. The birds should rarely be 

 fired at in cover when more than thirty yards from 

 the gun, or they will escape wounded in the under- 

 wood. They are generally brought down within 

 twenty yards from the gun. Pheasants are most 

 plentiful in Norfolk, Suffolk, and some of the 

 adjoining counties. There are some in every 

 county in England, and in most of the counties in 

 Scotland. A perfect bird has a white annular 

 space on the neck, but this mark is mostly wanting. 



The pheasant makes a considerable noise when 

 rising, sufficiently so to unnerve the young and 

 over-anxious sportsman. The bird should be al- 

 lowed to rise clear of the bushes, and to its full 

 height, before the shooter fires at it, or it is 

 probable he will fire too low ; and again, the short 

 fan-like feathers on either side of the tail appear, 

 as the bird is rising, to be part of the bird, making 

 the body seem longer and larger than it really is ; 

 and this circumstance, together with the rapidity 

 of the movement of the bird when rising, is the 

 cause of the shooter firing too low. The aim should 

 always be at the head, unless the bird is crossing, 

 and then well forward. Firing too soon, lest the 

 bird should be out of reach, is a very common error, 

 particularly with young sportsmen. 



