24 
CAP AND BELLS. 
his bag. We are told by old sporting writers, that the cus- 
tom once was to send into close covers an old steady pointer 
with a bell round its neck ; when the tinkle -tinkle ceased, 
the master knew that a point was made, and accordingly 
he made up to that point, if we may be forgiven for so 
detestable a pun ; but this tintinnabulary practice has now 
grown into disuse ; that it was ever a very successful one 
we cannot think ; indeed, a modern writer upon this style 
of shooting remarks that, ^ when a man goes out with his 
pointers and bells, he ought not to forget the cap for him- 
self.' It has been remarked by those accustomed to this 
pursuit, that Pheasants seldom take long flights, that is, when 
flushed in extensive woods, or in any locality where cover 
is plentiful ; they rise suddenly with a loud wJwt, which 
makes an inexperienced shooter feel quite nervous, and 
often causes him to miss his aim. Up goes the noble bird,^ 
with a strong bold flight, as if it meant to fly right aw^ 
to lands beyond the sun ; but ten to one if it does not 
drop again as suddenly as it rose, within a hundred yards 
of the same spot ; down it plumps right to the very bottom 
of the hedge or leafy thicket, and there it crouches as still 
as if it had been shot, and you must not expect to get it 
up again unless the stick of the beater or the nose of the 
dog almost touches it. Your canine assistant will not be 
guided to its hiding-place by the scent, for the bird has 
come down almost perjDendicularly from a considerable 
height, and has left no trail along the ground. The hen 
Pheasant, when sitting, will frequently drop upon her nest 
in the same manner. 
' During the winter,' says Craven, ^ turnip-fields, in the 
neighbourhood of covers, about three in the afternoon, are 
good places for Pheasants : by beating from the covers, 
with a steady dog, you will get far better sporting. Your 
dog should quarter from your signal, and drop at wing or 
shot, on the instant.' Many shooters jorefer this kind of 
sport late in the season, when the trees are in a great mea- 
sure denuded of foliage ; the birds can then be more easily 
seen and followed, and they are then, too, fully grown, and 
carry plenty of flesh, weighing oftentimes as much as three 
pounds. We find it mentioned in the Transactions of the 
