Hunting Terms 



BABBLER: a noisy hound, one given to babbling, 

 or flinging its tongue without cause. 



BILLET : the dung of the fox. 



BLANK: void, empty; a blank day, to draw^ a cover 

 blank. 



BRUSH : the tail of the fox. 



BULLFINCH: a high and hairy hedge, impossible 

 to get over and difficult to get through, whence 

 perhaps the name, as of a fence impervious to 

 a bullfinch, or any other bird. It might, how- 

 ever, be a corruption of "bull fence," a fence to 

 keep the cattle in their pastures, as it is most 

 common in the grazing countries. It has a ditch 

 on one side or other, sometimes on both, and 

 altogether is a disagreeable obstacle. 



BURROW : the underground home of the rabbit. 



BURST: the first, and, generally, the fastest part 

 of the run, when fox, hound, horse, and man 

 are at their freshest. 



CARRY: to carry a good head is said of a pack of 

 hounds all pressing and crowding to a hot scent. 



CAST : the spreading of the hounds in a search of 

 a lost scent, either a natural movement or pro- 

 moted by the huntsman, also used as a verb, to 

 cast. 



CHALLENGE : the hound which first speaks to the 

 scent in cover is said to challenge. 



CHECK: a stoppage in the run owing to the 

 temporary loss of the scent ; also used as a verb, 

 to check. 



CHOPPED : a fox killed before he has had time to 

 break cover is said to have been chopped. 



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