PTARMIGAN SHOOTING. 93 



a small pack, which jerked round an angle, and were 

 out of sight in a moment. I knew their flight w r ould 

 probably be a short one, so began to look about with 

 the utmost caution. My friend, quite a novice in 

 the sport, had no idea of finding the game himself, 

 and continued to hunt the dogs with great assiduity. 

 We happened to be pretty near together when they 

 again poked up a ptarmigan. Neither of us thought 

 of each other, or the ordinary rules of shooting, but 

 fired at once, and down came the bird. This was 

 rather unsatisfactory, as the honour and glory be- 

 longed to neither : however, we determined it should 

 not happen again. I described what places the birds 

 were most likely to haunt, and cautioned against 

 trusting to the dogs, which are quite unaccustomed 

 to the ground ; but finding my companion preferred 

 his own plan, I left him, and commenced my slow 

 and wary search. At last I caught sight of a ptarmi- 

 gan upon the very ridge of the hill, about thirty 

 yards above me. It was in a crouching attitude, and 

 had I attempted to put it up. would have dipped out 

 of sight in an instant. I was therefore obliged to 

 shoot it sitting ; but the moment I fired, another flew 

 straight over my head, his hoarse croak proclaiming 

 the cock of the pack. I had a fair shot, and down he 

 dropped. The first I killed being a hen, they made 

 a capital pair for my collection. 



" I was now very anxious my brother sportsman 

 should have a good chance ; so, joining company, we 

 scrutinized the ground on every side, without success : 



