116 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 
rubbish. The two forms of shooting are so unlike 
that there is no necessity for allowing the one to 
confuse you for the other. I remember going to stay 
with de Grey at Nocton, in Lincolnshire, which then 
belonged to Lord Ripon, accompanied by the late 
George Ward Hunt, almost the most brilliant shot 
with gun and rifle that I have ever seen. The rooks 
were in thousands, very forward, and though many 
still sat on the trees, the majority flew as well and as 
high as good rocketing pheasants. We were each 
armed with two breech-loaders and one, or perhaps two, 
rifles, and the way those rooks rained down alternately 
from trees and sky was a sight. I think we killed 
about 1,100 in three hours one day at Gautby, an 
old property of the Vyners across the fen. Wecame 
up to London the next day, and on turning up at 
Hurlingham were, of course, told that not much 
could be expected of us as we had been rook-shooting. 
De Grey, however, won the cup, and I was second. 
I was also lucky enough one year to win the principal 
prize at the Running Deer at Wimbledon on’ the 
Thursday, and a cup at pigeons at Hurlingham on the 
Friday, having had a deer-stalking rifle continuously 
in my hand during the whole of the Wimbledon fort- 
night. 
My readers will, I hope, forgive my relating this ; 
