BAY-SNIPE SHOOTING. 189 



Moreover, the excitement of a rapid flight is 

 intense ; the birds arrive much faster than the muz- 

 zle-loader can he charged, andaflock will hover round 

 the stand, returning again and again in the most 

 bewildering manner ; as there are usually two sports- 

 men in each stand, and the stands are often in sight 

 of one another, a sense of rivalry is added to the 

 other dilBculties of the position. 



As the birds approach, great judgment is required 

 in selecting the proper time to fire, both as regards 

 the condition of the flock and their position relative 

 to the associate sportsman ; they must be allowed 

 to come well within the reach of both, and yet be 

 taken when they are most together, and not allowed 

 to pass so far as to endanger the success of the se- 

 cond barrel. Each sportsman must invariably fire 

 at his side of the flock, and wait till it is well abreast 

 of him, and never either shoot over his neighbor's 

 corner of the stand or at his portion of the birds. 

 Nothing is so disagreeable as to have a gun dis- 

 charged close to one's head, except perhaps to have 

 it discharged at one's head ; the noise and jar pro- 

 duce painful and dangerous efiects, and unsettle a 

 person's nerves for hours. No man who wall fire 

 by his associate without presenting his gun well be- 

 fore him, can know the first principles of gunnery 

 — or who, if knowing them, wilfully disregards their 

 effects, is a fit companion. The concussion from the 

 explosion is exceedingly unpleasant, even if the gun 

 IS several feet ofi", and will produce a slight dea&ess. 



Of the number of birds which can be bagged, it 



