NOVEMBER SHOOTING 89 



better ; it is cooler and the scent lies stronger ; 

 birds may be wilder but they are in finer condition, 

 and remain so till the frosts come ; but even then, 

 unless it is very hard, they keep their condition. 

 It is snow that destroys all birds' condition. A 

 few days' snow, and birds not only fall miserably 

 away, but they get much tamer, and immense 

 numbers are killed by poachers, as well as rabbits 

 and hares, which are easily tracked ; and as they 

 are not able to go at any pace, a dog with a very 

 moderate turn of speed will run into them. 



The best bit of shooting I ever had was a forest 

 in France which I hired ; it was five thousand 

 acres, famous bottom covert in it, and noted for 

 woodcock ; there was a capital shooting lodge, fur- 

 nished, four lame bed-rooms, two sitting-rooms, 

 kitchen, back-kitchen, wood-houses, &c. ; cow-house, 

 piggery, stable for fourteen or fifteen horses, orchard 

 of three acres, kitchen-garden, and small field, a 

 gamekeeper's house, and dog-kennel ; in fact, as a 

 shooting-box it was complete ; for all this I paid 

 four hundred francs a year (£16). 



The house stood in the centre of the forest ; 

 there was a good road to it, and there was a 

 village a mile off at which you could get anything. 

 I had it for some years, and I never enjoyed covert 

 shooting so much ; there was fine partridge ground 



