2l6 



RECREATION. 



as reposing in the depths of his own 

 mink skin game bag. Then I did not 

 feel quite so comfortable. One hates to 

 be beaten, especially when one has a gun 

 worthy of being bragged on. 



After our cold lunch was discussed 

 we again separated, Buzz this time ac- 

 companying me. Beyond the creek at 

 this point was an abandoned stretch of 

 bottom land, where the craw-fishy soil 

 had been given over for several years to 

 blackberry briars and gallberry bushes. 

 It was a jolly place for almost anything 

 in the bird line, and Buzz and I antici- 

 pated great sport. We were not dis- 

 appointed. 



At a stand made by the dog, amid a 

 straggle of rotten logs, interspersed with 

 tussocky undulations, up went two dingy 

 streaks, that sought the high timber ad- 

 jacent. Sticking close together they 

 darted in a straight line at right angles 

 with my course, and one well directed 

 shot brought both down. 



Woodcock — by Jove ! While I was 

 congratulating myself on this unexpected 

 piece of good luck, Buzz became im 



patient and charged at an expanse of 

 high bottom grass, from which rose 

 another bevy of quails, just as I had 

 dropped another loaded shell into the 

 chamber. I was equal to the occasion 

 and added two more fine birds to my 

 collection. 



It was near noon when Jared and 

 I turned our steps homeward with 

 more than a dozen birds each. Jared 

 had two the most, but my pride was 

 soothed when I showed him those wood- 

 cock. 



Any fair shot with a good dog can 

 kill quail in the wire grass country. Nor 

 is there any finer sport or more tooth- 

 some result derivable from other kinds 

 of shooting. But woodcock are every- 

 where one of the rarest as well as the 

 shyest of game birds. Hence Jared's 

 concluding remark : 



" Give you four pat'ridges for them 

 woodcock. What d'ye say ? " 



In common with most hunters, of this 

 provincial stripe, a quail is always a 

 ki pat'ridge" to Jared. 



I felt obliged to decline with thanks. 



JUST LIKE A MAN. 



Mrs. K'Smith— What is it a sign of to have the family cat howl outside all night ? 

 Mr. K'Smith — Of a death in the family if the man is a good shot. 



