136 RECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



proprietors, especially in the " Grande Lande," are 

 fitted up so comfortably as to enable the owners to 

 spend the whole day there. They are divided into 

 several rooms, with chairs and couches, a good fire 

 burning, a table on which an excellent luncheon is 

 served, books, newspapers, cigars, and cards. Nor 

 is this all ; the hut is often graced by the presence 

 of the ladies, who arrive as usual in elegant toilettes, 

 and some of whom are excellent pigeon shots, even 

 at birds on the wing. At some of these places only 

 the gun is used. This simplifies matters, for then 

 only a hut is required, with a covered way leading 

 to it, and seven or eight decoys placed on the trees 

 to attract the Pigeons. Thus, those who are fond 

 of shooting can enjoy themselves to their heart's 

 content. 



The Pigeons killed in autumn are the best, those 

 obtained on the return journey in February and 

 March being far inferior in condition ; for they have 

 got older, grown thinner, and have acquired an 

 unpleasant taste, which is peculiar to all birds killed 

 at the beginning of the nesting season. Not only 

 is it a mistake on this account to kill them at this 

 time of year, but, by destroying such numbers 

 as they do when the birds are on the point of re- 

 turning to their breeding haunts, they are thought- 

 lessly "killing the Goose with the golden eggs." 

 Their capture in autumn is a very different 

 matter. 



If it is only for want of knowing how to set 

 about it that no systematic capture of Woodpigeons 

 is practised in this country, the method above 



