98 PHEASANTS 



Oct. 31, 1848. A report of a pheasant. 

 Mustered all hands, and beat everywhere all day, 

 but never found him. 



Oct. 1st, 1849. Kept up annual custom of a 

 grand sally forth: had the great good luck to 

 bring home the only three pheasants I saw. A 

 very satisfactory day. 



1850, Oct. 9th. Summoned all my myrmidons 

 to the chase of an old cock pheasant seen flying 

 across the meadow for our wood. In spite of 

 cavalry and infantry the old devil escaped, though 

 we never failed to head him in advance and 

 surround him in every way. We found him first 

 about a quarter-past eleven and saw him last 

 about a quarter before six, and he outwitted 

 me and my unrivalled army from morning till 

 nightfall. 



15^. A fine day, so went off early to search 

 for the artful old cock pheasant again : and in 

 the very last field, as we were coming home at 

 night, up he flew eight gunshots off, and mounted 

 over our wood, but though we beat till dark, I 

 never found him. 



Until the passing of that much-abused 

 measure, the Ground Game Act, in 1880, 

 the coverts were generally shot as much 

 for hares and rabbits as with any thought 

 of pheasants, and so walking the woods 

 in line was the common practice in most 



