AUTUMN SHOOTING. 821 
bably to wound and cripple half a dozen, and bring down 
none. 
Coolly select the outside birds on your own hand, 
those that go to the right, if you are standing to the right, 
and vice versd, leaving the balance to the skill of your 
companion ; if they rise very close at hand, let the first 
bird go fifteen yards before you raise your gun, then cover 
him, pull your trigger, cover another, and fire as quickly 
as you possibly can. If you have held straight, your brace 
of birds will be dead at about twenty and thirty yards’ 
distance; at which range the No. 8 shot will have had 
space to spread fully, without losing force, and will kill its 
object clean without any risk of tearing it to pieces. The 
next thing is to mark the birds carefully; to do this, fix 
the eye on them steadily as they skate away, gradually 
lowering their flight—never take the eye off them for a 
moment; if they sink into a dip or hollow of the ground, 
cast your eye forward in the line of their previous flight, 
and if they reappear beyond it, you will catch them again. 
If not, you may beat for them in that vicinity, judging by 
their elevation above the ground when you last saw them 
how much farther they will have gone. If the wind be 
high, and they are flying with it, make plenty of allowance 
for that. They will often skate before it across two or 
three fields, and over.as many fences, especially if they lie 
down hill, and if there be good lying ground beyond. 
If they enter a wood, they are almost sure not to leave 
it on the other side, and you can guess with some accuracy 
how far they have gone into it, by the height at which 
they enter it, though something will depend on the nature 
14* 
