22 The Course^ the Camp, the Chase 



of only 2000 acres will provide many days, with a fresh 

 beat each morning. Very many qualities, too, are called 

 forth, that go to create a sportsman. When the covey is 

 first flushed, besides selecting for your aim outside birds, 

 on your flank of the covey, — if possible, the old cock 

 who rises first, and then the old hen who usually gets 

 up last, — the number that rise must be rapidly counted, 

 and the eye be kept on them until they alight. They 

 will probably have to be flushed a second, and possibly a 

 third time, before they break up, and ere this happens a 

 fresh covey may very likely be stumbled upon. The 

 difference in the number of the birds, and the absence of 

 old ones, if you have been lucky enough to kill them the 

 first time, will tell you whether they are the same or 

 not. If it is a fresh covey, let it alone for the present, 

 and, picking up any birds you may have shot, go and 

 look further for the first lot. When this rises and 

 scatters in every direction, quick eyesight and good 

 memory are requisite, in order to make rapid mental 

 notes of the place where each partridge may drop, to 

 be sought for in succession. 



The prevailing fault at first of beginners is that they 

 want to do the work of the setters. Instead of slowly 

 sauntering along, or sitting en a gate, if it is preferred, 

 while the dogs quarter the ground under the direction of 

 their master, new hands want to hurry after them, and to 

 walk the birds up themselves. This only distracts the 

 dog's attention, and instead of helping does very much the 

 reverse. Birds, until they have been much shot at, very 

 seldom take much notice of a dog, beyond crouching down. 

 If the dog points steadily, and does not move forward, 

 partridges will sit quiet for a long time, and the guns can 



