32 SPORTS AND ANECDOTES. 



expand as he scents the battle from afar, whenever 

 anything like gunpowder is in question. 



When shooting and hunting are over, and when 

 the weather is too hot for him to be tempted down 

 to the river, for he is a good fisherman, and keen 

 also in the gentle art, he will sit for hours under 

 the shade of a tree, potting blackbirds and thrushes 

 as they top the garden wall, with a cherry or some 

 such dainty in their bills. This requires some little 

 skill, and serves to keep his hand in ; he is also 

 fond of his garden, and does not like his cherries 

 to be so ruthlessly borne away. Blackbirds and 

 thrushes, like pigeons, do make pretty pies ; and a 

 blackbird pudding, with a little bit of beefsteak in 

 it is by no means a despicable dish, when partridges, 

 and pheasants, and other game are not in season. 

 When there is no hunting or shooting going, and - 

 when the weather is too hot for any sporting, he is 

 apt to suffer from what is called ennui or the blue 

 devils, which interpreted means, he gets hipped, 

 and bilious, and hates himself and everybody else. 

 His medical man tells him that he must amuse him- 

 self in some way or another, that the smell of gun- 

 powder is good for him, and is very strengthening 

 to the nerves. Ergo he pots blackbirds and 



