820 MANUAL FOR 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—he 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 pressed 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 s0, is pro- 
