176 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 
and gone beyond them, they think to sneak back and be 
safe. Thus many which would be quite unapproach- 
able by an ordinary straight line of guns, afford instead 
beautiful overhead shots. You never seem to get a 
great deal of shooting, yet it is wonderful how the 
total mounts up, for some of the guns, according to 
luck, get shooting in every field, however wild the 
birds may be. 
Half-mooning with a more extended line, and 
embracing a large stretch of country at a time, also 
answers very well, but the spacing is naturally much 
more difficult to keep, as the intersecting fences hide 
one part of the line from the other. It is then well 
for the men to carry flags, but more will depend upon 
the discipline and intelligence displayed by the 
shooters. Those in the centre must allow time for 
the flanks to get forward, and each gun must keep 
touch with his right and left hand neighbours, pausing 
for them if they have to stop to pick up or get through 
a fence, and quickening or slackening his pace accord- 
ing to that of the flank outside him. 
In this way birds may be pushed off a large tract 
of country on to any heath or desirable piece of cover, 
while during the operation many wild pretty shots will 
relieve the monotony of walking. 
I remember once, when out alone with Lord 
