THE MOOR 181 



the first peak crossed, and will be out of range of the 

 guns at the foot of the gorge. 



(5) The distance between the butts should be regu- 

 lated according to what experience has shown to be the 

 width of the flight of the birds after concentration by 

 the drivers and flankers. On level and undulating 

 ground they should be closer than on rougher and more 

 hilly ground. The old fashion of having butts at in- 

 tervals of some eighty to a hundred yards is going out 

 of vogue. The other extreme is practised by The 

 Mackintosh at Moy Hall, where an allowance of only 

 fifteen yards is made between the butts, on the principle 

 that the concentration of birds is more marked than is 

 generally believed, and that much good shooting material 

 is thrown away when the butts are wider apart. This 

 space is, we think, too little. The only objection made, 

 to closely placed butts, has been the one of the possible 

 danger of accident. Where the nature of the ground 

 necessitates that one butt is out of sight of the proxi- 

 mate one, a stake, or better, a white stone, should be 

 placed to indicate the fact of the proximity. This 

 practice discounts any chance of temporary forgetful- 

 ness, which has been known to occur to the best of 

 sportsmen. On rough and hilly ground the spread of 

 the flight is wider, and here the butts should have a 

 greater distance between them a fair distance being 

 fifty yards. 



(6) Butts must be as invisible as possible, and, 

 except in very rocky and very marshy country, practi- 



