254 Unexplored Spain 
precise psychological moment to spring up to shooting-position. 
This indeed is a feature common to most forms of wild-shooting 
—such as duck-flighting, driving geese or even snipe; in fact 
there is hardly a really wild creature that can be dealt with from 
a comfortable position erect on one’s legs. Imagine partridge- 
shooters at home, instead of standing comfortably protected by 
hedge or butt, being told to hide themselves on a wet plough or 
bare stubble. Here, in Spain, it may also be necessary to conceal 
the gun under one’s right side (to avoid sun-glints), and that also 
loses a moment. 
All one’s care and elaborate strategy is ofttimes nullified 
through the blunders of a novice. Some men have no more 
sense of concealment than that fabled ostrich which is said to 
BUSTARDS PASSING FULL BROADSIDE 
hide its head in the sand (which it doesn’t); others can’t keep 
still. These are for ever poking their heads up and down or— 
worse still—trying to see what is occurring in front. We may 
conclude this chapter with a hint or two to new hands. 
Never move from your prone position till the bustard are in 
shot, and after that, not till you are sure the whole operation is 
complete. There may yet be other birds enclosed though you 
do not know it. 
Never claim to have wounded a bustard merely because it 
passed so near and offered so easy a shot that you can’t believe 
you missed it. You did miss it or it would be lying dead 
behind. 
All the same keep one eye on any bird you have fired at so 
long as it remains in view. Bustards shot through the lungs 
will sometimes fly half a mile and then drop dead. 
