318 SHOOTING 



Two instances of this straying propensity came 

 under my individual notice. 



I was staying with a large party at a friend's 

 house for pheasant-sl looting, and as the covers had 

 not been beaten before, my friend was sanguine of 

 some first-rate sport, knowing the large number of 

 pheasants that had been reared, and the troul)le 

 that had been taken with them. We went out, and 

 everything seemed to promise an excellent day's 

 shooting ; the pheasants were all reported safe the 

 night before, and " stops " had been sent out early 

 to prevent them straying, nets put down, and all 

 complete. Well, the first cover that was beaten 

 yielded only about thirty or forl-y pheasants, instead 

 of three or four times that number, and the second 

 and third the same. The host looked much annoyed, 

 and his keeper almost heart-broken ; and this kind 

 of sport continued until the afternoon, when my 

 friend called up the keeper, and in desperation 

 ordered him to beat a small covert standing by 

 itself about three-quarters of a mile off. The man 

 said he did not think it was any use, as no pheas- 

 ants were ever there ; however, as his master wished 

 it, it should be done, and he sent off some men to 

 put down the nets very carefully. When we came 

 up the under-keeper said there certainly were some 

 pheasants there, though he had never known them 



