MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES 447 



exacting man, the sportsman will find he is able to 

 gather better quotations. The keeper should ask for 

 estimates from several dealers before accepting any 

 particular offer. 



In packing game for the dealer, the following rules 

 should be observed : (i) All game should be thoroughly 

 cool before being packed ; (2) Fur and feather should 

 not be packed in the same basket ; (3) Feathers should 

 be carefully brushed and straightened, the head being 

 placed along with a piece of heather under one of the 

 wings ; (4) The heaviest birds should be placed at the 

 bottom ; (5) All badly shot birds should be kept for 

 home use ; (6) Baskets should, if possible, be dispatched 

 by train or steamer on the evening of the day on which 

 the game is killed. Many keepers are apt to postpone 

 the dispatch of game till the following day, and this 

 often accounts for the bad returns sportsmen receive 

 from the dealers. (7) A note of the quantity of game 

 dispatched should be given to the sportsman, and 

 should also be sent to the game-dealer. 



Game Book. The keeper's game-book should be 

 kept correctly, regularly, and methodically. Details of 

 the day's sport should be filled in every evening, and 

 on no account should they be left over till the following 

 day. The facts entered should include the number of 

 guns, the details of the bag, the number of hours the 

 guns were shooting, the state of the weather, the part 

 of the ground shot over, and any particular and interest- 

 ing circumstances relating to the day's sport that may 



