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couple of guns with one steady pointer, or with a good retriever without a pointer, might have sport without much disturbing the cover or driving the game away: but this will depend entirely on circumstances, and on the relative position of the cover.

If a cover be full of hares, and in the midst of an open country, where the tenants are allowed to keep greyhounds, and it be desirable to preserve the hares for particular occasions, such a cover cannot be kept too quiet, as it cannot be disturbed in the slightest degree with impunity. Hence the necessity of a good look-out, as in a coursing country, tricks of all sorts are resorted to to make the hares leave the covers, in which case they make their forms on the fallows, stubbles, or elsewhere, according to the season of the year, and then are victimised by greyhounds; but if hares leave a cover, pheasants do so much more readily, and stray to a greater distance, sometimes as far as two or three miles: some of them will of course return in a few days to the cover where they have been in the habit of being fed, if they have not gone into an enemy's country, and their return intercepted.

It is very easy, in a favourable country for pheasants, to raise a large stock of them; but it is most difficult to keep them when you have got them, no bird being more easily poached, both by day and night; and as there is no bird whose

exact place of resort is more easily ascertained by the poacher, all the latter requires is a couple of hours unmolested by day to clear a large plantation: hence the necessity of unremitting vigilance. To keep a large stock of pheasants together, you must feed regularly and in particular spots. The poachers are aware of this, and are as watchful of the movements of the keepers as the latter are of them; and when they learn that the keeper who has charge of a particular district is absent, they immediately repair to it, and commence their operations, one of which is called 'hingling.' If there are four men, they will, in a very short time, set two or three hundred snares at the end of a plantation, more or less, according to its size, and to the quantity of pheasants they know to be there; and when these are set, go round to the other end of the cover, and walk, at regular distances, slowly towards their snares, making a slight noise by cracking and breaking rotten branches, which will be quite sufficient to set all the pheasants in motion; and will be more effective than if they had a dog, as he would perhaps drive them too fast, and make them take wing. When the poachers reach the end of the cover, the pheasants are taken out of the snares and put into a sack, and the snares removed; they then proceed to another cover, if they think they have time, or move off, as circumstances may suggest. Perhaps they have a light-cart waiting in the nearest road,

ready to receive the spoil; if not, perhaps they conceal the sack till night-time, when one of the party comes and fetches it. Many covers are cleared in this manner without the knowledge of the keeper; and when the day arrives for the 'grande battue,' there is great disappointment, and the head-keeper looks very foolish, not knowing how and when he was duped, although he cannot deny the fact.

Poaching is also sometimes done in a small way by labourers on the land, by setting snares round the hedges; but these are soon detected if a keeper does his duty. Then comes the nightpoaching, with guns, which is most difficult to counteract or prevent, as the men who are engaged in this nefarious practice are generally the most desperate characters, and fully prepared to shoot a keeper with as little hesitation as they would a pheasant, should any obstacle be opposed to their proceedings; and as they frequently muster in greater numbers than the collective force of the keepers, and as the latter are generally unarmed, except with staffs, the attempt to secure these. ruffians is rarely successful, always most dangerous, and not unfrequently attended with loss of life. If the keepers, under these circumstances, could identify the poachers, an important end would be answered; but this is generally most difficult, as the poachers frequently come from a distance, and are not known to the keepers, and,

if known, take care to disguise themselves so as to avoid being recognised, and moreover generally threaten the lives of the keepers whenever they attempt to approach sufficiently near for the purpose. Some years ago a head-keeper in Suffolk was shot at and killed by a poacher on merely attempting to identify him, without in the slightest degree, in any other respect, having acted on the offensive; and, very unfortunately for the ends of justice, when the supposed delinquent was tried with those who were thought to be his companions, there was not sufficient legal evidence to convict any one of the miscreants, although there was no moral doubt either as to their identity or guilt.

Where pheasants are very thick, artificial ones, made of wood or straw, placed in the trees, will be useful in deceiving the poachers, and saving the lives of the birds. Sometimes pitfalls in covers, if the fact of their being made be promulgated, will make poachers shy of entering a cover. Furze and broom make a capital cover for a pheasantpreserve, only requiring a good look-out by day. The best food to attract pheasants, and keep them in one spot, is buckwheat, white peas, damaged raisins, and boiled potatoes. It is also a very good plan to sow some sunflowers, if there are any favourable spots for the purpose, as they are much liked by pheasants.

SNIPE SHOOTING.

Ar the proper season of the year, when snipes are abundant and in good condition, they afford excellent sport; when out of condition they are sometimes as plentiful as at the height of the season, but only for a few days: they are then more difficult to kill, and show less sport, being wilder and less accessible, and more irregular in their flight. From the end of October till the end of January is their season. In November and December I have usually found them in the highest condition; but this will depend on the weather, as they are seldom plump and fat till after a few sharp frosts. In September and in March I have occasionally found them in great quantities; but in both these months they are thin and of indifferent flavour, especially in the month of March: they are then on their return passage to their native countries, and are not only thin, but have a strong, rank, disagreeable taste. In speaking of snipe shooting, I allude to that which is had in large marshes and bogs (where fifty, sixty, and more shots may be had daily), and not to the casual shooting of a few in frosty weather by the brook or rivulet side; and having had much experience in this sort of sport, and having killed many thousand snipes, I can speak

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