CKANE. 
179 
Crawling among the stones and long grass, I managed to gain 
a cross wall, which would have exactly answered my purpose, 
but at the very moment when I was passing the only gap, the 
bird, raising its long neck, caught sight of me, and was off in an 
instant. Having watched it fairly out of sight, I went home 
greatly disappointed. 
Next morning, being provided with my own gun, I went again 
in pursuit, this time accompanied by my hrother-in-law. Two 
riders were seen making for the very spot where we expected 
to find the bird ; but after a smart race, we intercepted them 
just in time, and, almost breathless with anxiety and haste, we 
peeped over the brow of the hill, very cautiously indeed, for the 
extreme wariness of the bird was by this time well known ; then 
we rose to our knees, next to our feet, but not a feather was to 
be seen. We were about to descend the hill, and had already 
proceeded some steps, when, catching sight of the bird on a level 
place at the foot of a hill, and about three hundred yards distant 
from us, we immediately dropped behind a friendly hillock, and, 
making a wide sweep inland, got round to the top of the hill, as 
nearly as possible above the desired spot. Eeckoning that the 
Crane Avould be far out of shot from the nearest concealment, 
we agreed that our only chance was to creep along the ground 
as far as possible, and then run in at once. This we did, and 
as the bird got up we ventured a very long shot with BB as it 
flew towards the loch. On receiving the shot, it sailed steadily 
for a few seconds, and then dropping upon its feet in shallow 
water, ran for the land so rapidly that we could scarcely over- 
take it, and even then the furious thrusts which it delivered 
with its bill rendered its despatch a matter of no small difficulty. 
It was only now that we became aware that we both had fired, 
the two shots having occurred so precisely at the same moment 
that only one report was perceptible. In consequence of the 
great size of the bird, neither of us could carry it alone with- 
■ out injuring it as a specimen; therefore we bound it length- 
wise with our handkerchiefs to the longest gun, and thus 
brought it home in triumph. 
