38 BROADLAND SPORT 



inch of land that can be hired is snapped up and preserved, 

 whilst good guns are exceedingly scarce and much in request. 



Before the Wild Birds' Protection Act of 1880 was passed, 

 which has been such a boon and a blessing to all lovers of 

 nature and sport, a good time was obtained round Whitecaste, 

 from about the 4th to the 14th of July, shooting young red- 

 shanks, or redlegs, as they are provincially called. 



The mode of pursuit was as follows : Having previously 

 noted the most-frequented and favoured marshes by watching 

 the movements of the older birds, a day was appointed and 

 the guns apportioned, some for walking up, others for placing 

 in fixed stands to shoot the wilder birds. These stands were 

 made from reed hurdles, temporary screens, a convenient bush, 

 clump of reeds or coarse marsh litter, whichever came most 

 handy and convenient for the purpose. 



The walking-up division carefully beat the ground with 

 dogs towards the guns concealed in the stands, shooting what 

 young birds rose or circled within range ; the old birds they 

 spared as a rule, because at that period of the year they are 

 comparatively worthless. The guns who were posted forward 

 got the best of the fun, as all their shots were more or less 

 sporting ones, and generally at birds which flew past them at 

 a high rate of speed, having been considerably frightened by 

 the remainder of the party. 



One drawback to the sport was the flies and midges which 

 swarmed around (once experienced, never forgotten), with the 

 excessive heat generally to be endured. To counteract this 

 as much as possible old boots with plenty of holes in them 

 were worn instead of the heavy and cumbersome long marsh 

 boots, and to fall into a dyke or bog-hole was not objected to, 

 except for the nastiness of the mud ; but this could easily be 

 got rid of by a swim in the river after the beat was over, 

 which indulgence the author has frequently treated himself 

 to in days gone by without troubling to divest himself of one 

 inch of clothing. 



Large bags of redshanks were seldom procured, but the 

 practical knowledge of the ground and habits of the birds, 



