82 PHEASANT SHOOTING. 



and purple, that, in and out of season, form the fes- 

 toons of every poultry butcher's show-window. 



Pheasant- shooting commences on the 1st of Oc- 

 tober. It is rarely, however, that the season is so 

 forward as to give us, so early, nides sufficiently ad* 

 vanced towards trigger maturity. Indeed, the sport 

 may be postponed with great convenience ; as no 

 cover-shooting is pleasant, or very profitable, till the 

 trees are at least partly stripped of their foliage. 

 In beating covers for pheasants, if you use dogs at 

 all, employ low-backed spaniels, with short legs. 

 Never take your setters with them ; for you cannot 

 find a dog, any more than a man, master of all 

 trades. They, the spaniels, ought to be slow, mute, 

 and fond of " pottering," or hunting close around 

 you. But the true way to go about this business 

 is to take cover yourself, with only a single steady 

 retriever at your heels. Some thirty or forty yards 

 behind you have a corps of boys with sticks, to beat 

 the bushes, and who will instantly give over when 

 they hear a shot, until the word is again given 

 by you " Go on." They should then proceed as 

 before. 



As this process will certainly cause many of the 

 old birds to run for the cover sides, the boundaries 

 and adjoining fences should be beaten immediately 

 after the cover has been drawn. Here you may be 

 sure of shots, and without the annoyance of boughs 

 and stems of trees to interrupt your aim. All hedge- 

 rows in the vicinity of covers are likely to hold 



