PARTRIDGE-SHOOTING 61 
missed at longish range. Oftentimes a bird will 
slacken speed a trifle, particularly when topping 
a hedge. It is well worth while to have a look 
the other side of the hedge for a few yards on 
both sides of the bird’s line, even though you did 
not actually see it fall. Good shots shoot well 
forward, and are very likely to hit a bird in the 
neck without bringing it down on the spot. I 
have seen many a bird slacken speed at a hedge, 
give a bit of a lurch, and sink quietly to the earth— 
dead. The extra exertion of topping the hedge 
hurries the bird’s collapse, and it usually turns 
slightly out of its line. 
Shooting stories are almost as numerous and as 
remarkable as those of fishing. Here are some 
samples concerning a farmer, a parson, and a 
keeper respectively. I was not present when 
any of the incidents occurred. I credit the keeper’s 
feat, having had the account from his own lips, 
also the deed done by the parson, he being my 
own father; but I must admit that the farmer’s 
story needs some digestion, so I will tell it first. 
Strolling round the farm with his gun, the farmer 
had occasion to pass through a gap in a hedge, 
near which there was a heap of red ashes, the 
remains of a couch-fire. In these ashes a covey 
of partridges were taking a dust-bath, as partridges 
love to do. And so much were the birds enjoying 
themselves that they failed to notice the farmer's 
