194 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



he must have run. On another occasion a little 

 covert was being driven over a turnpike-road. Just 

 at the end of the beat a cock pheasant fell in the 

 middle of the road, but had vanished by the time 

 the beaters appeared. The shooter of this pheasant 

 was very much annoyed when the beaters declared 

 they could not see it, and said he knew it was dead 

 because he had seen it run into the ditch. 



The etiquette of shooting does not permit a guest 

 to choose his own stand, certainly not to intrude 

 upon the stands of his fellow-guests. I have known 

 plenty of guests who have longed to shift their 

 stand, but only one who actually did so, and he 

 was a man who had been living in the colonies for 

 many years. I was standing next to him ; neither 

 of us had had a shot that beat, while the forward 

 guns were having a lively time. At last he could 

 endure it no longer, shouted to me, ' Let's trek to 

 where the sport hums,' and off he went. 



The shooter who acts the part of Fidgety Phil 

 does not realize the extent to which he lessens his 

 chance of getting shots. Even if you move scarcely 

 enough to breathe, there is not much chance of 

 a shot at a pheasant which is in sight on the ground, 

 and none at all if you shuffle about. There is 

 nothing to be gained by fidgeting that is to say, 

 by increasing the chance that game will see you and 

 turn back in good time. How many partridges 

 have received a timely hint to break back from a 



