SHOOTING THE PHEASANT 



very few indeed who know how to show them when 

 they have been produced. There, to quote Flatman, 

 ' the trouble begins.' Some brilHant examples I 

 have seen, whose names, though I prefer not to 

 institute unnecessary comparisons by citing them, 

 will occur to many experienced shooters. Such men, 

 having a natural gift of generalship and organisation, 

 enter absolutely into the spirit of the pursuit, as 

 viewed by the practised gunners who take part in it ; 

 and are perfectly able, without referring any ques- 

 tion of management to their employers, to carry 

 out the heaviest day's covert shooting in a practical 

 manner, without losing sight of what I may term the 

 sportsmanlike or picturesque side of the subject. 



The choice of a head keeper is a difificult matter, 

 and is too often decided in favour of the man with 

 powerful frame and large voice. These are useful, 

 though far from the only essentials ; and I have long 

 held the opinion that, for many important reasons, the 

 position of a head gamekeeper on a considerable estate 

 should be entrusted only to men of a higher stamp 

 of education and ability than is commonly the case. 



The policy which should guide his actions with 

 reference to delicate questions of tenancy, neighbour- 

 hood and labour I have treated in another chapter ; 

 but the management of covert shooting equally 



