﻿54 
  A 
  MONOGRAPH 
  OF 
  THE 
  PHEASANTS 
  

  

  the 
  level 
  at 
  which 
  you 
  stand, 
  when 
  you 
  catch 
  a 
  glimpse, 
  scuttling 
  round 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  

   knoll, 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  cock, 
  going 
  at 
  railroad 
  pace, 
  with 
  head 
  down 
  and 
  tail 
  straight 
  out, 
  and 
  

   you 
  arrest 
  his 
  career 
  (if 
  you 
  are 
  sharp 
  enough) 
  then 
  and 
  there. 
  

  

  " 
  Then 
  comes 
  the 
  work 
  below 
  ; 
  the 
  dogs 
  are 
  called 
  close 
  to 
  heel, 
  and 
  following 
  the 
  

   shouted 
  directions 
  of 
  the 
  markers, 
  you 
  move 
  about 
  here 
  and 
  there, 
  now 
  finding 
  a 
  dead 
  

   bird, 
  now 
  having 
  a 
  wounded 
  one 
  brought 
  you 
  by 
  a 
  dog, 
  and 
  now 
  getting 
  nearly 
  knocked 
  

   down 
  by 
  one 
  whose 
  tail 
  absolutely 
  brushes 
  your 
  face 
  as 
  it 
  rises 
  under 
  your 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  

   centre 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  patch 
  of 
  cover, 
  which, 
  on 
  the 
  persistent 
  outcries 
  of 
  the 
  markers, 
  you 
  

   have 
  been 
  vainly 
  hunting 
  through, 
  backwards 
  and 
  forwards, 
  for 
  the 
  ten 
  previous 
  

   minutes. 
  

  

  " 
  But 
  you 
  do 
  not 
  account 
  for 
  all, 
  unless 
  you 
  are 
  a 
  better 
  shot 
  than 
  I 
  ever 
  yet 
  saw, 
  

   though 
  in 
  these 
  days 
  of 
  breech-loaders 
  far 
  fewer 
  ought 
  to 
  escape 
  — 
  some 
  wounded 
  birds, 
  

   and 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  unwounded 
  will 
  have 
  given 
  leg 
  bail, 
  and 
  the 
  distances 
  they 
  will 
  then 
  

   go 
  is 
  surprising. 
  I 
  have, 
  quite 
  by 
  accident, 
  recovered 
  by 
  a 
  dog 
  pouncing 
  on 
  it 
  a 
  Cheer, 
  

   with 
  pinion 
  broken, 
  the 
  blood 
  still 
  fresh 
  on 
  it, 
  fully 
  three 
  miles 
  down 
  a 
  valley 
  at 
  the 
  

   upper 
  part 
  of 
  which 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hours 
  previously 
  I 
  had 
  had 
  a 
  beat. 
  

  

  "The 
  sport 
  is 
  very 
  exhilarating, 
  but 
  you 
  are 
  generally 
  lower 
  down 
  than 
  in 
  koklass- 
  

   shooting; 
  you 
  are 
  more 
  closed 
  in 
  ; 
  the 
  air 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  fresh 
  and 
  bright 
  ; 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  superb 
  

   wide-reaching 
  views, 
  changing 
  as 
  you 
  move 
  ; 
  a 
  glimpse 
  of 
  the 
  snows 
  is 
  rarely 
  to 
  be 
  

   caught 
  ; 
  you 
  have 
  no 
  magnificent 
  forest 
  about 
  you, 
  and 
  when 
  brought 
  to 
  bag 
  your 
  bird 
  

   is 
  very 
  poor 
  eating 
  compared 
  with 
  koklass 
  or 
  woodcock. 
  

  

  "The 
  force 
  with 
  which 
  Cheer 
  descend 
  is 
  almost 
  incredible. 
  Other 
  pheasants 
  in 
  

   descending 
  keep 
  the 
  wings 
  a 
  little 
  open 
  ; 
  these 
  birds 
  pass 
  one 
  at 
  such 
  a 
  fearful 
  pace 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  be 
  certain, 
  but 
  it 
  always 
  appeared 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  Cheer 
  quite 
  closed 
  their 
  

   wings, 
  and 
  I 
  attribute 
  their 
  power 
  to 
  do 
  this 
  to 
  their 
  enormous 
  tails 
  sufficing 
  to 
  guide 
  

   them. 
  When 
  within 
  a 
  hundred 
  feet 
  — 
  I 
  speak 
  by 
  guess 
  — 
  of 
  the 
  level 
  at 
  which 
  they 
  intend 
  

   to 
  light, 
  suddenly 
  out 
  go 
  the 
  wings, 
  the 
  tail 
  is 
  spread 
  to 
  its 
  fullest 
  expanse, 
  the 
  bird 
  looks 
  

   double 
  the 
  size 
  it 
  did 
  a 
  second 
  before, 
  and 
  sweeps 
  off 
  in 
  graceful 
  curves 
  right 
  or 
  left, 
  shortly 
  

   dropping 
  suddenly, 
  almost 
  as 
  if 
  shot, 
  into 
  some 
  patch 
  of 
  low 
  cover. 
  If 
  no 
  shots 
  have 
  

   been 
  fired, 
  you 
  may 
  walk 
  straight 
  down, 
  and 
  ten 
  to 
  one 
  find 
  him 
  exactly 
  where 
  you 
  

   marked 
  him. 
  

  

  "At 
  times 
  you 
  get 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  hillsides, 
  where 
  the 
  trees 
  are 
  thin, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  

   great 
  sport 
  to 
  be 
  got 
  there. 
  The 
  whole 
  covey 
  is 
  scattered 
  over 
  an 
  endless 
  distance 
  ; 
  you 
  

   must 
  make 
  a 
  line 
  ; 
  the 
  birds 
  will 
  get 
  up 
  in 
  front 
  of 
  any 
  one 
  but 
  the 
  gunner, 
  and 
  run 
  down- 
  

   hill 
  in 
  a 
  most 
  provoking 
  manner. 
  If 
  you 
  get 
  two 
  brace 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  situation 
  after 
  five 
  or 
  

   six 
  hours' 
  fagging 
  you 
  may 
  be 
  well 
  pleased, 
  unless 
  the 
  covey 
  happens 
  to 
  have 
  an 
  

   antipathy 
  to 
  dogs, 
  as 
  they 
  occasionally 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  in 
  out-of-the-way 
  places. 
  Then 
  

   almost 
  every 
  bird 
  that 
  is 
  found 
  by 
  these 
  flies 
  straight 
  up 
  into 
  the 
  nearest 
  tree, 
  and 
  thence, 
  

   standing 
  almost 
  on 
  tip-toe 
  on 
  some 
  horizontal 
  bough, 
  with 
  feathers 
  erected 
  and 
  tail 
  

   spread, 
  chuckles 
  or 
  crows, 
  or 
  whatever 
  you 
  like 
  to 
  call 
  it, 
  at 
  the 
  barking 
  and 
  yelping 
  

   cockers 
  below, 
  till 
  you 
  walk 
  up 
  and 
  (tell 
  it 
  not 
  to 
  your 
  friends 
  when 
  you 
  return 
  to 
  camp) 
  

   solemnly 
  pot 
  him 
  or 
  her 
  then 
  and 
  there. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  was 
  once 
  nearly 
  killed 
  by 
  a 
  Cheer. 
  I 
  was 
  standing 
  in 
  a 
  rather 
  awkward 
  place, 
  the 
  

   extreme 
  outer 
  edge 
  of 
  a 
  plateau 
  jutting 
  out 
  for 
  twenty 
  or 
  thirty 
  yards 
  near 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  a 
  

   patch 
  of 
  precipitous 
  ground 
  ; 
  behind 
  me 
  was 
  a 
  sheer 
  fall 
  of 
  about 
  forty 
  feet 
  ; 
  a 
  Cheer 
  was 
  

  

  