SHOOTING ON THE WING. 63 



"Hares aftd pheasants there are none, and partridges are scarce; 

 woodcocks and snipes are uncertain, both as to season and situa- 

 tion. It is true that great quantities of other birds may sometimes 

 be killed, for instance, wild ducks and pigeons, which are seen 

 occasionally in flocks of many miles in extent ; but, after all, and 

 much as I have heard of American shooting, in my opinion it is 

 poor, insipid diversion, compared with the English, being pursued 

 without any kind of system or science, and reminding me more of 

 the onsets of our mechanics and shopmen, let loose at Christmas 

 and on holidays, to range the fields no matter where, and pounce 

 upon all, no matter what, than of any thing worthy the name of 

 shooting. Let no English sportsman think to better himself by 

 emigration in this respect. I'll answer, upon trial, for his total 

 disappointment." 



In reply to the above, we must say that Mr. Fowler's remarks 

 are calculated to give his countrymen a very unjust and unfavor- 

 able idea of sporting in the States. He must have been very un- 

 fortunate in the selection of his shooting-grounds when among us, 

 to be forced to assert that partridges are scarce in America, or 

 that woodcocks and snipes are uncertain both as to season and 

 situation ; for all three of these birds are to be found in almost 

 every State of the Union in considerable abundance, at the proper 

 time, as will be found by referring to our articles on these sub- 

 jects. It would be folly in us to waste time in refuting all that 

 has been said by Englishmen in reference to our sporting ; and we 

 therefore pass the matter over without further comment, as we are 

 satisfied that the contents of this book will tell a different tale from 

 what many of them have written.* 



* What would Mr. Fowler's readers think of the following extract, taken from 

 one of our daily Western papers, of March, 1855? 



"N. Powers, of Fayette County, Iowa, lately drove into Dubuque with a load of 

 game, consisting of one thousand partridges, one thousand prairie-hens, (grouse,) 

 one hundred hares, eight deers, five wolf-skins, two bear-skins." 



Or of this, from the "Cleveland Leader:" 



"Dr. Short and his son shot two hundred and nineteen English snipe in one and 

 a half days on the borders of Mud Creek, near the head of Sandusky Bay. When 



