THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
in the wood had produced two or three cocks, and these were setup on 
paling posts as decoys, the guns being concealed a quarter of a mile 
apart among the stooks. Parties of birds were constantly to be seen 
leaving the wood to feed on the oats and barley ; sometimes a lot of old 
cocks, at other times a mixed pack of young cocks and greyhens. One lot 
of five old cocks passed rather wide of one of the guns, and only one was 
killed ; after flying for a few hundred yards the remaining four turned 
and flew straight back over the decoy, leaving two more of their number 
behind. Two continued their course towards the wood for about a quarter 
of a mile, till they were nearly within shot of the other gun, then once 
more turned back and, heedless of the fate of their three companions, 
came straight to their death. Thus the same gun killed all five cocks 
within a few minutes. They had apparently made up their minds to 
solve the mystery of the decoy -birds on the posts, or die in the attempt. 
On another occasion in the same locality a fine old cock was observed 
perched on a paling -post in the stubble fields, and the keeper (with his 
perennial gun) was sent round to try and drive it and other black -game 
in the field, over the guns. The old cock allowed the man to approach 
within thirty yards of it and shoot it as it sat ! A good many labourers 
were working at the harvest on some of the neighbouring stubbles, and 
the bird must have mistaken the man’s occupation. 
The following incident will serve to show how extremely wily the black- 
cock usually is. A small drive for black -game was being carried out on a 
hill-side covered with birch trees, rough patches of brambles and bracken. 
The first few cocks came over the guns in the usual manner, but several 
others, which followed, alighted on the ground before coming within 
shot, and made good their escape on foot. One bird was seen to enter 
a small isolated patch of brambles, and to remain there. When the drive 
was over, with the aid of a keeper and a retriever, an attempt was made 
to dislodge it, but without success, and the general opinion was that it 
must have “ run on.” No sooner, however, had the guns moved off out 
of shot than the cunning old bird emerged from its hiding place and flew 
quietly off. This instance also shows the remarkable power which black - 
game, in common with other game-birds, possess of voluntarily sup- 
pressing all scent in time of danger and of baffling the efforts of the best 
dogs to find them. 
The greyhens are not nearly so wild as the blackcocks, and when they 
rise on the open moor are often mistaken for grouse by those who are not 
28 
