OF HAIIE-FINDERS. 141 



than in the middle of a fifld. They who make 

 a profession of hare-finding (and a very advan- 

 tageous one it is in some countries) are directed 

 by the wind where to look for their game. 

 With good eyes and nice observation, they are 

 enabled to find them in any weather. You may 

 make forms, and hares will sit in them. I have 

 heard it is a common practice with shepherds on 

 the Wiltshire downs ; and by making them on 

 the side of hills, they can tell at a distance off 

 whether there are hares in them or not. With- 

 out doubt, people frequently do not find hares 

 from not knowing them in their forms. A 

 gentleman, coursing with his friends, was shown 

 a hare that was found sitting. — " Is that a 

 hare ?" he cried : " then, by Jove, I found two 

 this morning as we rode along.'''' 



Though the talent of hare-finding is certainly 

 of use, and the money collected for it, when 

 given to shepherds, is money well bestowed by 

 a sportsman, as it tends to the preservation of 

 his game; yet, I think, when it is indiscrimi- 

 nately given, hare-finders often are too well 

 paid. I have known them frequently get more 

 than a guinea for a single hare. I myself have 

 paid five shillings in a morning for hares found 

 sitting. To make our companions pay dearly 



