220 WILD -FOWL SHOOTING 



he will tell his retriever to lie down ; the dog, if well 

 trained, will at once do so, and never move. His master 

 will then crawl forward, until he gets the advantage of 

 a bush or tuft of reeds, and then raise his head by inches 

 to look through it for his other marks. Having seen 

 them, he has got an idea where the birds are, and will, 

 with the utmost caution, endeavour to catch sight of them. 

 I will suppose him fortunate enough to do so, and that 

 they are perfectly unconscious of his near approach. 

 He must lower his head in the same cautious manner, 

 and look for some refuge at a fair distance from the 

 birds, through which he may fire the deadly sitting shot. 

 After creeping serpent-like to this, he will again raise 

 his head by hair-breadths, and, peeping through the bush 

 or tuft, select the greatest number of birds in line ; then 

 drawing back a little, in order that his gun may be just 

 clear of the bush for the second barrel, after having fired 

 the first through it, will take sure aim at his selected 

 victims. Should he unfortunately not find an opening to 

 fire through, the only other alternative is by almost 

 imperceptible degrees to raise his gun to the right of the 

 bush, and close to it ; but in doing this the birds are 

 much more likely to see him, and take wing. Never fire 

 over the bush, as you are almost certain to be perceived 

 whenever you raise your head : more good shots are 

 lost to an experienced hand by a rapid jerk, not keeping 

 a sufficient watch for stragglers, and over-anxiety to fire, 

 than by any other way. Having succeeded in getting 

 the sitting shot, the fowl, especially if they have not 



