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PREFACE 
T he success which has attended the appearance of the first Volume of this 
Work encourages the hope that the second Volume will be as favourably 
received. 
In the first Volume attention was confined to feathered game and wild- 
fowl; the present Volume relates to Deer and Ground Game, Dogs, Guns and Rifles. 
The chapters dealing with the different species of animals mentioned embody an account 
of their status in the British Islands, their geographical distribution, natural history, 
haunts, habits, breeding, care of young, and natural enemies ; followed by descriptions 
from personal experience of the various ways in which they afford sport with gun or rifle. 
It will be obvious that in this Volume the most important animals dealt with are 
the various kinds of Deer met with in the British Islands — Red, Fallow and Roe — and 
for the time being attention is confined to these three species ; for in a subsequent volume 
on Big Game due attention will be paid to the deer of other countries. In the chapters 
here contributed by Mr J. G. Millais it will be found that hardly any point of impor- 
tance in connexion with British Deer has been overlooked, while the picturesque descrip- 
tions of stalking and details of wood craft have been written by him from long and 
varied experience as a stalker and naturalist. 
The chapters on Hares and Rabbits, which have been written by Mr J. E. Harting, 
contain a variety of details concerning these smaller wild animals, and relate not only 
to their natural history, but also to the sport they afford with the gun. 
From game, both furred and feathered, to the dogs which are employed for finding 
and retrieving it, the transition is easy, and accordingly it will be found that Pointers, 
Setters, Spaniels and Retrievers are all duly dealt with in the chapters devoted to their 
respective breeds. In the treatment of this difficult subject the Publishers have secured 
the co-operation of Mr Walter Baxendale, Kennel Editor of “The Field,” and the infor- 
mation which he has been able to impart is not only the outcome of personal experience, 
but has the approval of some of the best judges of sporting dogs in this country. Mr 
Baxendale has been assisted in his task by Captain W. Coape Oates and Mr Maurice 
Portal. 
Then, as to sporting weapons, no one eould desire a more instructive essay in the 
Evolution of Guns and Rifles than that which has been specially written for this work 
by the Hon. T. F. Fremantle. The reader who peruses it attentively will perceive that 
in a comparatively limited space it contains practically all that is worth knowing on the 
subject. 
Finally, a chapter is devoted to the consideration of the Game Laws affecting Deer, 
Hares, and Rabbits — the law relating to feathered game having been discussed in the 
first Volume. In these days of extensive game-rearing and the management of shooting, 
some knowledge of law is more than ever desirable, and it is hoped that the elucida- 
tion of the statutes here set forth may be found of practical utility. 
The Publishers are indebted to Mr B. J. Warwick for kindly allowing them to 
reproduce in colour, from the originals in his possession, the two examples of Miss 
Maud Earl’s work. 
This Volume has been prepared for the press by Mr J. E. Harting. 
VII 
