WALKING UP 169 
they hate, and only go there for shelter when alarmed 
or hustled. The same may be said of clover, in which 
crop you will rarely find a bird unless it has been 
driven there. It must be borne in mind that when, 
on first attacking your ground in the morning, you 
find birds in these crops, which they do not frequent 
because they cannot run comfortably in them, it 
is possible that they have been disturbed by men 
working in the fields or crossing by foot-paths. In 
the afternoon, during feeding-time, it is of course 
utterly useless to beat turnips unless you have driven 
birds to them off the stubbles. 
A word or two is necessary on the subject of pace 
in walking. It is, no doubt, a good rule to walk 
slowly, and when birds are broken all over a turnip 
field, and lying well, you can hardly go too slowly. 
But the rule is by no means invariable, and when you 
enter a fresh field, the birds in which have not as yet 
been disturbed, and are inclined to keep rising just 
out of range, while those that do not rise are running 
from you towards the end, you will get many more 
shots by going fast than slow. In wheeling also,. 
unless again birds are lying very close, the wheeling 
flank should get round rapidly. It isa fact that at 
times you can vv right on to birds, when you could 
not walk to them. 
