Game in the Furrows. 9 
upon the scene suddenly. They have a trick of steal- 
ing along close to the low mounds which divide arable 
fields, so that they are unobserved till they turn out 
into the open ground. 
It is not easy to distinguish a hare when crouching 
in a ploughed field, his colour harmonises so well with 
the clods; so that an unpractised eye generally fails 
to note him. An old hand with the gun cannot pass 
a field without involuntarily glancing along the furrows 
made by the plough to see if their regular grooves are 
broken by anything hiding therein. The ploughmen 
usually take special care with their work near public 
roads, so that the furrows end on to the base of the 
highway shall be mathematically straight. They often 
succeed so well that the furrows look as if traced with 
a ruler, and exhibit curious effects of vanishing per- 
spective, Along the furrow, just as it is turned, there 
runs a shimmering light as the eye traces it up. The 
ploughshare, heavy and drawn with great force, 
smooths the earth as it cleaves it, giving it for a time 
a ‘face’ as it were, the moisture on which reflects the 
light. If you watch the farmers driving to market, 
you will see that they glance up the furrows to note 
the workmanship and look for game; you may tell 
from a distance if they espy a hare by the check of 
the rein and the extended hand pointing. 
The partridges, too, cower as they hear the noise 
of wheels or footsteps, but their brown backs, rounded 
as they stoop, do not deceive the eye that knows full 
