90 NOVEMBER SHOOTING 



all round the forest, which I had leave to go over ; 

 part of it was mine. There were a few roebuck in 

 the forest, foxes, and plenty of badgers ; with these 

 last we occasionally had great fun. There was 

 some very fair trout fishing, as well as duck shoot- 

 ing, any quantity of rabbits ; and I never went out 

 without bringing home a hare or two ; there were 

 quail in the season, and snipe too, and the woodcock 

 shooting was capital. 



For a few days in November, thousands and 

 thousands of wood pigeons made their appearance, 

 and were very tame from a long flight ; these were 

 killed in great numbers. When they first arrived 

 they were miserably poor, but after a few days they 

 picked up, and were difficult to get at. I never 

 enjoyed anything more than this bit of rough 

 shooting ; everything was so convenient and com- 

 fortable ; by the bright wood fire of an evening we 

 used to smoke, tell our stories, and spin our yarns. 



The game I killed, even at the small price it 

 fetched, paid the rent and my English keeper. I 

 do not mean to say T sold it, but I exchanged it 

 away for other things wanted in the house. 



November, although one of the dreariest months 

 of the year, is one of the best shooting months — 

 certainly for general rough shooting. 



I have had capital sport in Ireland in this 



