DE TEA C TORS OF DRI VI NG 2 1 5 



in October, have the sport of stopping the flights as 

 they swing over at a terrific pace, and at all sorts of 

 angles. Where the ' butts' are situated low down 

 under a hill, some grand rocketing shots can be got, 

 and such shots are the truest test of shooting, and are 

 generally acknowledged to be the quintessence of such 

 sport. 



It irritates me to hear driving condemned ; and as I 

 have before remarked, I do not believe that those people 

 who so run it down have ever had any experience of 

 a really well- managed drive on a good moor, and 

 know next to nothing about it. I consider it vastly 

 superior to plodding for hours after a brace of dis- 

 appointed dogs late in the season. Doubtless there 

 are wild shootings where dogs can be used throughout 

 the season with a certain amount of success, but such 

 localities are indeed few and far between, and, as a 

 rule, it is impossible to use dogs late in the season 

 without the assistance of trained falcons. 



From this use of falcons. I am glad to say 

 that the eyries in many places have been left un- 

 molested. This very year I have seen more falcons 

 and golden eagles than usual, thanks to our agitation 

 against the mistaken practices of those people who 

 were ignorant of the immense benefit afforded to game 

 by birds of prey, by their killing down of weak stock, 

 and thereby maintaining the balance of the laws of 

 nature. 



Years ago I did my utmost to impress on several 

 owners of moors and forests what a mistake it was to 

 permit their keepers to kill these noble birds, but, 

 until recently, I have been but partially successful. 

 Latterly, however, owing to the increasing wildness of 



