493 
BOB WHITE, THE GAME BIRD OE AMERICA. 
duty to bring that bird to bag, and that right 
quickly. 
The extraordinary vitality of this vigorous 
bird was once forcibly impressed on me. A 
covey was flushed at about one hundred yards 
from the edge of a wood. Only a few of the birds 
flew to the woods. One of them, going at a 
tremendous velocity, crossed my position at a 
distance of about forty yards. Holding my 
gun at what I judged was the proper distance 
ahead of him, I fired. This was the only shot 
fired at the birds making for the wood. 
“ Sam,” said I to our negro gillie, “ I think 
I hit that bird.” 
“No, sah,” said Sam; “I tink not, sah. 
He’s a-gwine to whah he forgit he lef suf- 
fin, sah ! ” 
Sam is a good marker, and has carefully 
watched the flight of hundreds of birds shot 
at. Yet I could not entirely satisfy myself 
that the bird was not fairly hit, though 
he kept straight on in his vigorous flight. 
A sprained foot prevented rapid walking, 
and my companion entered the wood, with 
the dogs, before me. As I struck the edge 
of the woods I heard the report of his gun, 
and after proceeding about one hundred 
yards I heard a second shot, and in another 
instant a bird tumbled through the air and 
fell about a dozen feet in advance of me. 1 
called out : 
“ I have them both ! ” 
“ Both what ? ” said he. “ I only shot one 
bird, and the other flew away from your 
direction and I missed him clean.” 
The bird my friend shot lay with his head 
toward me; the other, a large cock, lay on 
his back with his bill pointing toward the 
other bird, and not more than a foot from 
him. Both birds were warm. The large cock 
was the one I had fired at. He was struck 
fairly in the head and chest, and yet he had 
pitched into the woods and gone altogether 
nearly two hundred yards before he suc- 
cumbed to his death-wounds. But for the 
remarkable circumstances which led to the 
finding of this bird, I should never have surely 
known that I had shot him. 
Rules for shooting are of value, and di- 
rections founded on theory may serve to 
inform the beginner why he misses and thus 
show him the way to improvement in his 
marksmanship; but no matter how well we 
may know hoiv the shooting should be done, 
to do it is an art which can be attained only 
by the assiduous cultivation and development 
of certain peculiar natural gifts. 
A beginner who, out of three shots can 
bring one Bob White to bag, need not be dis- 
couraged or ashamed ; with sufficient practice, 
he may one day kill one out of two birds 
fired at. The sportsman who does not select 
his shots (and no man really a sportsman 
can do that), but takes his chances in the 
open and in covert on all birds which offer 
a probability of success to his skill, and who, 
the season through, brings to his bag three out 
of five birds fired at, is an accomplished .sports- 
man. If he can make three successful shots 
out of four, he is a pheiiomenal marksman. 
Last season, I shot with the best wing-shot 
I ever hunted with. At my request, this 
gentleman, Mr. H. K. B. Davis, of Philadel- 
phia, has written for me the following state- 
ment ; which, coming from one who has had 
such unusual opportunities in hunting Bob 
White, in North Carolina, cannot fail to be of 
interest to all sportsmen : 
“ I find, on referring to my record containing the 
number of coveys found and the number of birds 
killed, that the average is but little over three birds 
brought to bag from each covey flushed. When it is 
remembered that the usual number of birds found in 
a covey runs from ten to eighteen, it will give some 
idea of the difficulties to be overcome, and the large 
proportion of birds that escape even with good shoot- 
ing, as the same record shows that seventy-three out 
of every hundred birds shot at were brought to bag. 
This record, extending over four years and running 
up into the thousands of birds killed, gives very re- 
liable data to base calculations upon. 
“ The dogs I hunted with I have every reason to be- 
lieve are above the average in speed, endurance, and 
scenting powers ; so there is only one conclusion to 
arrive at, and that is that these birds are exceedingly 
difficult both to find and to kill. 
“ There are many opinions as to the proper method 
of shooting on the wing. .Some hold that ‘snap-shoot- 
ing Ms the only way to shoot successfully. Snap-shooting 
is generally understood to consist in putting the gun 
to the shoulder and firing the instant it is in position ; 
making the allowance to the right, left, under, or 
above, as the case may require, before raising the 
gun ; just as you point your finger, instinctively, to 
any object without having to sight along it. Others 
are just as sure that no one ever shot decently unless 
he followed the bird with the sight on the gun and 
covered it before firing. Some, again, insist that you 
must swing your gun along with the course of the 
bird after pulling the trigger. In my opinion, every 
one who has shot very much acquires a style peculiar 
to himself, and depending on his temperament and 
the kinds of birds he has had the most practice on. 
“ It may be well to give a few hints as to the neces- 
sary allowance to be made in taking aim at a bird fly- 
ing so rapidly as Bob White. The most difficult shot is 
a bird coming directly toward you, and flying about 
twenty feet above the ground. 1 have been quite suc- 
cessful in this shot, by holding directly at the bird 
until he is within range, and then, just as 1 touch the 
trigger, 1 raise the muzzle of the gun about six inches. 
1 would only advise trying this shot where there is 
more than one bird, and you want to use the second 
barrel. When there is only one incoming bird, wait 
until he passes over you, and then by shooting under 
him, more or less, according to the speed and elevation 
at Avhich he is flying, you will be pretty sure to kill. 
“ In cross shots, at thirty yards and over, hold above 
the line of flight and from six to nine feet ahead of 
the bird. This may seem entirely too much, but I 
have frequently shot Bob White when flying parallel 
