CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 



HOW I BECAME A KEEPER 



PAGES 



Early days Schemes and dreams by day and nightThe 

 fascination of game-keeping The bright side I fire a gun 

 Caps and candles Mimic shoots The question of a 

 career I become a gamekeeper at fifteen shillings a week 

 First impressions The finger trick The best start Value 

 of education Responsibilities Worries of first shoot i 7 



CHAPTER II 



ON A PARTRIDGE BEAT 



My first beat A farmer 'Enry the carter His brother-in- 

 law's rabbit- shooting and mine A novel puncture A 

 good ratting ferret End of a poaching cat Foxes I 

 catch egg-stealers Gipsies Egg trickery and gratuitous 

 advice - - 8 24 



CHAPTER III 



MY FIRST SHOOT 



Sweet September Estimating birds A night out False 

 alarms Hungry, wet, and weary The First Bubble bags 

 A lurcher My friend the shepherd Ten-thirty Who 

 knows best ? My first tip Forty and a half brace ! - 25 35 



CHAPTER IV 



PARTRIDGES 



Their popularity and thrift Their comparative scarcity How 

 they are persecuted Thoughtless shooters Partridges 

 pay for attention Birds in bad weather Poverty of their 

 food compared to that of pheasants Value of artificial 

 feeding Destruction of nests Cheap nesting cover 

 Coverts Why always pheasants ? Dogs and nests 

 Faults of partridges Farmers and compensation A 

 health to the bonny brown birds - - 36 51 



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