THE LOVELORN GOBBLER 211 



a thrill through your nerves, and the timid squir- 

 rel wiggling and scampering to his hole in a hol- 

 low gum. The sound comes from the oblique left. 

 Your eyes turn slowly that way. Ah! there 

 he stands, half erect, half concealed in the brush. 

 You see the white top of his head, the crimson 

 wattles of his arched neck, the long beard and 

 the glint of his eye, for he is only forty paces 

 away; but do not fire, as the least twig may de- 

 flect the ball. He has not made you out, al- 

 though in plain view, nor will he, unless you 

 make a sudden move. 



You have carefully brought the rifle to bear on 

 him. He is meditative and somewhat listless; 

 but note that tail going up : he is going to strut, 

 and that will bring him into an open space. 

 "Cluck v-r-r-r-o-o-o-m-i." There! he is broad- 

 side on. See that crease that runs along his neck 

 ending near the butt of the wing? Drop your 

 bead on the butt of the wing opposite where that 

 crease ends. That will kill him every time, as 

 behind lies his heart; while if you aim for the 

 centre of the body the bullet will go through the 

 viscera, making a mess of it, and while a fatal 



