SKY-SCRAPING PHEASANTS. 105 



under the stress of the rush and hurry than I would ordinarily do if 

 I had plenty of time. They picked up eighteen pheasants and one 

 partridge, and a rabbit, in front of me. Where the partridge came 

 from I do not know ; he could not have been in the woods, but he started 

 by. I remember seeing him swing in front of me, and I thought as I 

 pulled, that he was too small for a pheasant. Anyway, I got him with 

 the others. 



As far as the rabbit was concerned, of course, rabbits or hares are 

 liable to pop out anytime. The only difficulty they spelled to me was 

 that I was often afraid to shoot at them for fear of hitting a beater 

 or some of the other guns, and when I did shoot at them I was very 

 likely to miss. I did better as the days went by. 



The hares are great big fellows, tremendously heavy, rangy brutes. 

 They are much esteemed by the people of the country for use upon the 

 table. 



Of course, as all the game is sold, the beaters are well pleased to see 

 large bags made, and because in many cases their compensation de- 

 pends upon the number of head of game killed. When I say the game 

 is all sold, of course I mean such game as men do not care to take for 

 their own use or give to their friends. 



I remember standing at a gate where two hedges would have joined 

 at right angles, but for this break, and having a lively little set-to 

 with what almost seemed like a flock of hares. I just had a little nar- 

 row patch of ground visible in front of my gun and into this within 

 two minutes there appeared several hares. When the beat was over, 

 there were seven of the big fellows lying almost one on top of the 

 other. 



Our bags in Norfolk I do not remember. I have the record of them 

 somewhere, but I know approximately what we got. Something like 

 140 brace of partridges, eighty or ninety of pheasants and a little less 

 than a hundred hares and rabbits on the first day. 



Not so many partridges nor hares but more pheasants on the second; 

 and on the third day, which came after a Sunday of pleasant rest, 

 spent mostly indoors, for a rain fell, we ran the partridge score up and 

 did practically nothing in pheasants. 



Monday's shoot was not materially different from the others. Some 

 features of it perhaps were characteristic. I recall one stand where 



