WOOD-PIGEONS AND WILD-FOWL 151 



they so soon become fly-blown ; and to take also 

 advantage of each lull in the shooting to gather the 

 fallen, for the same reason. I remember a farmer 

 and a friend he took with him bagging a hundred 

 and six pigeons in two hours, but all of them were 

 shot while perched in an ash-tree at a range of 

 about twenty-five yards. There was a single ash- 

 tree in the hedge at each end of a large field of rye, 

 which was considerably forwarder than any other 

 corn in the district. 



One often may get very fair shooting which 

 results in all the birds falling into standing corn. 

 Even if the farmer does not object to his corn being 

 trampled down to search for them, you will be lucky 

 to find half the pigeons you get down. The only 

 thing is to refrain from trying to score a right and 

 left, and go straight for each bird as it falls. Rather 

 than leave birds to rot, it is better to take up a 

 position less favourable. Sometimes, by sticking 

 up sheets of newspaper, you may turn birds from 

 their way to yours. The following are what I have 

 found to be ideal conditions for shooting wheat- 

 eating wood-pigeons a large favourite wood, at 

 least a quarter of a mile from their feeding-field, 

 with bare rising ground intervening, over which you 

 can see approaching pigeons as specks against the 

 skyline. It is good to watch these specks, and to 

 wonder whether they will keep to their course and 

 enter the field out of shot from your stand ; or, 



