216 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
was known to kill two hundred and ninety in three hun- 
dred shots. The birds are easily bagged in the open 
ground early in the season, as they fly straight away—if 
a person does not become nervous from the rapidity of 
their flight. Excitable people should try to give them a 
start of twenty or thirty yards before firing, as that dis- 
tance will enable the shot to scatter, and increase the 
possibilities of a hit. They ought also to take deliberate 
aim, as snap shots are not so likely to be successful as 
those delivered with a prompt but steady swing. If the 
birds are not too wild, a charge of three drachms of pow- 
der and an ounce or an ounce and an eighth of No. 10 shot 
will be found sufficiently powerful to bring down the 
toughest old cock, going straight away at full speed, but 
No. 8 is better at a later period in the season, when the 
birds are exceedingly wild, as 1t has a velocity of seventy- 
one feet a second greater than No. 10 shot. It may also 
be stated that a ten-gauge gun will send its charge one 
hundred feet per second faster than a twelve-gauge can, 
so that one of the former size may be the best to use 
throughout the year, everything considered, if it is not 
too heavy. A convenient weight would be seven and a 
half or eight pounds. 
I have bagged Bob Whites in several of the Western 
States, but I found them more numerous in the regions 
adjoining the Missouri River, and in Florida and Texas, 
than in any other part of the Continent. While I was 
travelling through Southern Nebraska, I joined a party 
of five, who were bound on a campaign against the birds. 
We secured lodging in a farm-house, which was in the 
center of a good game region, and remained there until 
we had exhausted our ammunition. 
The day after our arrival we commenced work, after 
breakfast, along the banks of the river. The birds 
seemed to be quite numerous, but as they ran before the 
dogs, we were unable to get a shot at them. Thinking 
