124 THE RABBIT 



cleaning-rod, or tied to a piece of string and pulled 

 through after dropping the string down the barrel by 

 means of a small weight. 



When shooting rabbits with a rifle, it is not a bad 

 plan to have a wattled hurdle put up here and there 

 in the warren or open ground where the rabbits lie 

 out, under cover of which they may be approached or 

 waited for within range. Their sense of smell and 

 hearing being very acute, they should always be 

 approached up wind. Another good plan is to sit up 

 in a tree, for by being above them they are less likely 

 to smell you. Success, of course, will in a great 

 measure depend on the skill of the shooter, coupled 

 perhaps with a certain amount of luck in getting shots 

 at short ranges. It is obvious that the most perfect 

 rabbit rifle in the world ' may become useless in the 

 hands of a man who tries to use it like a gun. An 

 experienced London gunmaker was of opinion that 

 30 per cent, of misses with a rabbit rifle might be 

 excused, but one who has made good trial of the -250 

 asserts that with hollow bullets and fairly good 

 shooting not more than 6 or 8 per cent, of rabbits hit 

 should escape. With solid bullets the percentage 

 would be greater. Much, of course, will depend on 

 the distance at which they are fired at. It is not 

 every bullet that proves fatal to a stricken coney. If 



