88 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



his hand less firm. Still he is quick to detect, 

 and with his hard-hitting muzzle-loader he 

 rarely misses. Given favourable conditions, he 

 is almost infallible with the gun, though he 

 gives his game law. He cannot now cover his 

 extended ground in a single day, and perhaps 

 does less night-watching than formerly. 



His beat covers a widely diversified district, 

 with almost every species of game. The 

 Pheasants wander about the woods and copses ; 

 the Partridges are among the corn stubble ; 

 and rabbits pop in and out everywhere. Hares 

 haunt the meadows and upland fields, and Snipe 

 go away from the marshes. Woodcock come 

 to the wet woods, and a host of sea-haunting 

 creatures feed along the shore. There is a 

 Heronry in the wood, and pigeons build in the 

 larches. Of the habits of these the Keeper is 

 full ; and if he is garrulous he is always in- 

 structive. By daily observation he has found 

 that animals and birds have stated times and 

 well-defined routes. Exactly at the same hour, 

 according to the sun, the Partridges and Phea- 

 sants resort to the same spots. Hares follow 

 their tracks day by day, and Books fly, morning 

 and evening, along the same valleys. Nightly, 



