88 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 
which intervenes between the turnips and the fence. 
I dwell upon this instance because therein lies all 
the real foundation of the superiority of a good man 
out shooting over a bad one. It accounts for the 
proverbial good-luck of really first-rate men in driving, 
as well as in walking up. The good man appears to 
get more chances, because as the ground develops in 
front of, or around him, he sees at once where he is 
likely to get a shot, and when it comes he is ready for 
it. He is safer to shoot with, for his faculty of obser- 
vation and memory combined make him aware of 
places where the rise or fall of the ground has ac- 
counted for dangerous shots being fired, and in such 
places he will only fire within certain limits. To a 
beginner I would recommend the happy practice of 
going over again in his mind all the incidents of the 
day, field by field, and shot by shot, when he goes to 
bed, trying to remember how and where every brace 
of birds was killed, how many were lost, and where. 
T used to do this regularly, and sometimes do still, 
and I know no pleasanter way of courting the sleep 
which the wearied hunter must enjoy to the full in 
" order to be fit for the next day’s work. 
As I do not know whether I shall be addressing 
myself chiefly to the novice in the sport of partridge- 
shooting or to the practised shot, I shall just set 
