102 FIELD SHOOTING. 



badge of the United States, at one hundred 

 pigeons each, I took two weeks' practice at plo- 

 ver. They were then scattered, and I shot at none 

 but single birds. The practice was of much ser- 

 vice, as the plover flew very swift and did not 

 present a large mark. From what I could do 

 with them in the field I was satisfied I should 

 win the match, and it so turned out. I killed 

 the whole of the hundred pigeons in the match ; 

 ninety -three of them were scored to me, and the 

 other seven fell dead out of bounds. From the 

 time the great flocks of plover scatter, which is 

 sometimes as early as the twentieth of April, 

 practice at single, fast-flying birds, such as I have 

 mentioned, may be had until they go north to 

 their breeding-grounds in the higher latitudes. 



We now come to the upland or highland, 

 grass, gray, or whistling plover, which, according 

 to scientific naturalists, is no plover at all, strictly 

 speaking, but a bird of similar habits and ap- 

 pearance, called Bartram's tatler. As it is known 

 among sportsmen as a plover only, I shall call 

 it one. This bird is a little larger than the 

 golden plover, and a little longer in the leg; it 

 is also more upright and has a longer neck than 

 the other. Its color is gray. It is a very 



