10 FIELD SHOOTING. 



eager instinct of the dogs, their great sagacity, en- 

 durance, and patience, are remarked with pride and 

 admiration. The features of the varied landscapes 

 ■ — hill and vale, woodland and riverside, vast prairies 

 with groves and fringes of timber on the branches 

 of winding and meandering streams, broad fields of 

 land, now in pasture, now covered with brown 

 stubble, now waved over by the green flags of the 

 corn, tall, strong, and a place of refuge for quail, 

 grouse, etc. — afford constant pleasure to the sports- 

 man. And after the labors and sports of the day 

 are done, the camp-fire beneath the trees, on the 

 banks of a stream or the margin of a little lake, is 

 a place of calm recreation and repose. You may 

 hear the call of the night-birds, and the low, sup- 

 pressed noises of the nocturnal animals afoot after 

 their prey, but neither the hoot of the owl nor the 

 howl of the wolf will drive slumber from the 

 pillow of brush upon which you rest. The night 

 brings enjoyment almost as pleasant as that which 

 was the recompense of the exertions of the day. 



Having followed shooting for twenty-five years, 

 mostly all through the different seasons, and some- 

 times camped out as much as three months at a 

 time, never sleeping in a house during that period, 

 I believe I have a sound and extensive practical 



