PARTRIDGE-SHOOTING 61 



missed at longish range. Oftentimes a bird will 

 slacken speed a trifle, particularly when topping 

 a hedge. It is well worth while to have a look 

 the other side of the hedge for a few yards on 

 both sides of the bird's line, even though you did 

 not actually see it fall. Good shots shoot well 

 forward, and are very likely to hit a bird in the 

 neck without bringing it down on the spot. I 

 have seen many a bird slacken speed at a hedge, 

 give a bit of a lurch, and sink quietly to the earth 

 dead. The extra exertion of topping the hedge 

 hurries the bird's collapse, and it usually turns 

 slightly out of its line. 



Shooting stories are almost as numerous and as 

 remarkable as those of fishing. Here are some 

 samples concerning a farmer, a parson, and a 

 keeper respectively. I was not present when 

 any of the incidents occurred. I credit the keeper's 

 feat, having had the account from his own lips, 

 also the deed done by the parson, he being my 

 own father; but I must admit that the farmer's 

 story needs some digestion, so I will tell it first. 

 Strolling round the farm with his gun, the farmer 

 had occasion to pass through a gap in a hedge, 

 near which there was a heap of red ashes, the 

 remains of a couch-fire. In these ashes a covey 

 of partridges were taking a dust-bath, as partridges 

 love to do. And so much were the birds enjoying 

 themselves that they failed to notice the farmer's 



