OLD-WORLD FOWLING S5 



he was working. The farmer was much annoyed at 

 the havoc which the pheasants of a neighbouring 

 squire wrought in his newly sown barley. ' Now, 

 Adam,' says he, 'we'll have some of them there phea- 

 sants ! We might as well have a lot of cocks and 

 hens as them. I know a quiff that'll stop them from 

 coming and eating our barley ! ' So the two conspira- 

 tors set to their nefarious work. First of all, they pro- 

 cured from the farmer's wife a quantity of white peas. 

 These they steeped in water until they were soft, when 

 they pierced every pea with a sewing needle. The 

 next step was to insert stout horsehairs into the peas, 

 crossways, cutting off the ends of the hair, so that the 

 bristles only protruded half an inch on each side of 

 the pea. Finally, the men proceeded to sprinkle the 

 peas upon the surface of the ground which had been 

 sown with barley. Adam assured me that when he 

 returned to the spot on the following morning he 

 found no fewer than eleven fine pheasant cocks placed 

 hors de combat, the fatal bristles having stuck in their 

 throats until the birds became exhausted by their 

 efforts to swallow the bitter-sweets prepared for them. 

 The pheasants, as Adam phrased it, were 'super- 

 annuated,' and allowed themselves to be secured with- 

 out difficulty. Adam was 'flait to take them, because 

 'twas out o' season,' but those eleven pheasants were 



