NE CK-SHIN E 179 



the art by practice ; others apparently inherit it, and 

 cannot explain to you how they do it ; but I consider 

 that the plan which I have here advocated of firing 

 at the neck, either between the horseshoe-marked 

 breast and head of partridges, or at the 'shine' of the 

 neck in any birds whose plumage displays the fatal 

 spot, is most useful to the beginner at driven birds ; 

 and, with such practice, no one who can lay any claim 

 to the title of a good shot will require anything further 

 to guide him, as judgment of pace becomes a matter 

 of habit. 



Of course, on days when the wind is strong the 

 difficulty is at first very considerably increased ; but 

 practice makes perfect, and the difficulty of pace 

 becomes less formidable. 



When calculating for this ' neck-shine' (if I may so 

 term it), the sportsman must keep his eye fixed on the 

 advancing bird, and the instant the 'shine' is visible he 

 must fire with the swing of the bird, for the reason that 

 when the gleaming spot is first visible, the bird is at 

 the very best possible angle for being cleanly shot, 

 and if allowed to come too near, the light will show 

 too far over the breast and belly, and the bird will 

 be ' tailored.' 



I have known many men who were previously 

 nervous, fiashy shots, become good steady performers 

 by my having initiated them in the art of thus waiting, 

 but not too long, for the ' neck-shine,' and learning to 

 fire at the exact moment when it appeared on the 

 neck. Of course, at first, many of my pupils ex- 

 perienced some difficulty in learning so to shoot, and I 

 have at times found myself also firing without the 

 necessary swing to drop birds going at speed ; but I 



