130 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



come sailing back, streams of them ; nothing seems 

 to stem the tide of wings. A few shots, and the 

 beat is finished. All is wrong, and nothing right. 



There is no absolute cure for this state of 

 things, but there are several ways of bringing 

 about an improvement. The worst, though it is 

 better than none at all, is to place the guns so 

 near to the wood that the retreating birds are 

 within their reach. Another is to have butts 

 made some time before, of hurdles or lengths of 

 wire-netting, draped with fir-boughs, bracken, or 

 other suitable local material. And then, though 

 the birds may come forward in fair numbers, they 

 are low most of them too low to be taken in front. 

 Pits could be dug, so that the heads of the guns 

 are below the ground-level the birds doubtless 

 would come forward well enough, but only about 

 far enough from the ground to allow them to use 

 their wings, and a good many would be content 

 to use their legs. Where expense is no objection, 

 or underwood is of little value, and landlords and 

 others are willing, another plan is this : Cut down 

 and clear a strip right across the covert, about thirty 

 yards wide, and the same from the guns' end of it. 

 Before beating begins, erect netting along the edge 

 of the clearing nearest the guns. Then the birds 

 must rise, and they have a clear start. Not finding 

 enough width of wood to allow them to settle again, 

 they go to the guns decently. But the best way of 



