■J-20 MANUAL FOE YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



On getting abreast of the pointer, if the birds do not 

 rise, encourage him by a gentle chirrup, and the word 

 " On,'' in a low whisper ; when he should lead you step by 

 step, you keeping exact pace with him, your forward foot 

 parallel with his shoulder, never heeding him until he 

 has brought you to the very tuft, brake, or bush in which 

 one of the birds — that which he first scented — lies. 



If the bird do not then spring — be probably will do 

 so, however, even before this time, on the first disturbance 

 before the bevy has been broken, although in the heat of 

 the day, after being shot at, they will often squat until 

 literally trodden upon — the dog should not be pru.-scd or 

 urged to jump in upon the birds, but the shooter should 

 kick the brake with his foot, or stir it with the muzzle of 

 his gun. If he have an assistant with him to carry the 

 game-bag and spare ammunition, it is his duty to throw a 

 stone or beat the bushes with his stick, and instantly to 

 crouch to the earth, when he hears the birds rise, other- 

 wise he will often be in the way of the gun, and deprive 

 it of a fair shot. 



If a single bird rise, the sportsman's work is clear 

 enough — particularly if it be, as it generally is, the old 

 cock, who leads the bevy. Kill him at all hazards, if you 

 can. The other birds will alight three fields sooner, if he 

 is not there to lead them over the tree-tops far away. If, 

 by good fortune, a clever double shot brings down both 

 parents, the old cock and the old hen, the rest of the bevy 

 may be counted on as dead sure. 



If the whole bevy rise at once, on no account shoot at 

 the bulk of it, or at a central bird. To do so, is pro- 



