194 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



singly ; and when he scores a brace he knows all 

 about the second bird. Often he knows much more 

 about the first bird than those who have nothing 

 else to do but to mark. The usual rule is for the 

 attendant to mark the first bird that falls and the 

 shooter the second. With two men to mark one bird 

 it should be quite easy to find the place. The bird 

 will be within a yard of where the two imaginary 

 lines intersect. A common mistake made by sports- 

 men is to suppose that because they have fired at a 

 bird coming towards them it must have fallen in 

 front of them : more probably it has fallen several 

 yards behind, especially if it be a bird brought down 

 by the second barrel. It is not easy to mark the 

 place where a covey pitches. On seeing the birds 

 suddenly lower their line of flight, a sportsman may 

 suppose they have alighted, unless he still keeps a 

 watchful eye on them, for birds often lower their 

 flight when they have crossed a hollow or a valley, 

 and then skim on low over the crest of the hill. How- 

 ever, when birds lower their line of flight, after fly- 

 ing some distance, it is a sign that they contemplate 

 settling. 



* IF * 



Among the many clever things that a gamekeeper's 

 retriever learns is how to mark a partridge which 

 flies a long way and then towers. When once he 

 has grasped what is meant by the rising of a covey, 

 the firing of a shot, and the sight of a bird soaring 



