DOI.S. description of the various varieties of dogs used in the hunting or pursuit of game will be found under FIELD DOGS. Other closely related articles are GA11 E-PRESIMVE ; 1 ORSF and I I OlISENIA NSII I I'.
There are many TOO of hunting. and some animals a pursuit in special Way;, hut the killing of game by shooting is by far the most common method. and the on' to which this article is largely devoted. In Europe, and in Great Britain particularly, the various forms of shooting may be as follows: Open Shoot ing.— Partridge. grouse. plover. quail, landrail, snipe, etc.; hares mid rabbits. (%11 NIIIJOi 1719.
WIN )(lent-L.-, hares. and ral.bits.
Hirer and Pond duck, widgeon, teal, etc. r Wild•fotcl Shooting.—Suell marine wild-fowl as the wild swan, wild goose, burnt goose. etc. Formerly the game was hunted en open moors. sttibbles, fens. and marshes, or in coverts. aided by spaniels and beaters: or t•lse it was stalked on the hills (see DU:A-STALKING), or along the shores of lakes and estuaries. This form or method still obtains in Continental Elinme. the modern English method being the ex 1011. In emisemience of improved methods of agriculture. shooting over dogs in England and part. of Scotland and Ireland has become prac tically a of the past, and the 'drive' or hoffu• has, of become the voi.me. Tn America dogs may he regarded as a :Many rules have developed for the guidance of sportsmen when shooting together in the field, some of the more important of which may be mentioned. Where two persons are shooting to g•ther it is the rule for one not to shoot at a bird which flying toward his companion. Tt is very neeessary to condemn the firing across a emnrade's face: and good fellowship demands that a bird should never he fired at if it is flying so that it mnst cross before a companion until he has failed with both barrels of his gun. Where the birds fly directly away from the sportsmen, shots are taken at them alternately unless several should rise at once, when it. is per missible for each man to fire at the birds on his own side.
Snipe make their first appearance in spring time, and are usually found in meadows and salt marshes. The element of chance enters very largely into the sport of snipe-shooting, but the hunter accustomed to their habits wilt usually be successful. IVindy weather, if the wind is not too high, is a favorable time. Among experi enced gunners. jacksnipe is a great favorite, owing to the impossibility of formulating for it any fixed rule. No two snipe fly alike; one may flush at fifteen feet and another at fifteen yards; ene may steady thirty yards away. another at forty. and another may not steady until clear out of range. Woodcock.—During the day these birds may be found seeking for food in marshy thickets. When disturbed they fly in a rising straight line as far as the top of the bushes, and then after making some little distance horizon tally, they settle down by means of a number of quick zigzag movements. Grouse.—The two most important varieties are the ruffed grouse and the pinuated prairie-chicken. In common with the Canada grouse (spruce partridge), and the blue and sharp-tailed grouse of the West.they have stout bills, short feathered legs, and lark plumage. The bird is found in thick woods, and is greatly protected by its color. which is so much like that of the ground that it is frequently overlooked. It is very shy and wild, and fre quently will run far ahead of the dogs, and eventually rise completely out of range. Some.
times they are hunted with dogs and shot after they have taken refuge in a tree, hut the keen sportsman never shoots unless he can secure them on the wing. The ruffed grouse is the most cunning game-bird to be found in the Northern States. Quail is often called a partridge in the Southern States, and is popularly known as the Bob White. There are almost fifty varieties of the bird. all of which have practically the same conformation. They are found in the Eastern and Middle States, but are more abundant in the South and Southwest. They afford good sport and are more easily got at than grouse or wood cock. After the pointers or setters have flushed them they make a very swift flight, and unless the hunter can mine up with them immediately they are raised, they are liksly to get out of range. Wild fowl (in Nrhieh general description are in cluded swans and geese. and among the ducks canyashaeks, redheads. mallards. teals, pintail, and wood-duek) abound especially in the lakes of the Northern States. along the New .Tersev coast, Delaware abd Chesapeake bays. Curritu•k Sound. the Mississippi Valley, Puget Sound. the Willamette and Columbia rivers, and all the lakes and bays of the Northwest. They are very fond of wild rice and wild celery, and are fre quently lured to waters in which they have no natural food by hunters who plant wild rice. They are hunted in a variety of ways. among which may be enumerated the following: The hunter may station himself concealed near a point over which they fly. and shoot them as they pass; or he may put out decoys (see DECOY) : or he may steal upon them while they are feed ing or resting. In the Chesapeake Bay particu larly, and occasionally elsewhere, sink-boats are used, in which the gunners lie and shoot the birds as they fly over. Another method is to sink a box in the sand or shallow water in which the hunter hes as in a sink-boat. Another very successful way is to employ the trained Chesapeake Bay dog. which will run up and down the shore, and by its actions excite the curiosity of the birds, which, if they approach to satisfy their curiosity, are within easy range of the gun. This method is known as 'toling.' 11 ild turkey is hunted with or without a decoy call or whistle. They are easily tracked by their trail on the ground; and may be shot at their roosts if surprised at break of day. One of the hardest birds to secure is the upland plorrr or Barlram's sandpiper, which cannot Ice approached except by means of some trick. For in Rhode Island it is fre quently hunted from a carriage in which the huntsman hides while he is driven in gradually lessening circles around where the bird is sup posed to be. lie must, however. he ready to spring out and fire the moment the bird rises. Oemsionally trained ponies are used in mueh the same way as the carriage, the huntsman being concealed by the animal's fore legs am] shoulder. Another method is to build a house of boughs and wait for the birds to alight in its vieinity. The rail, or ri•ebird, as it is known in the South, is usually hunted from boats at flood tide—a method which demands considerable skill and experience on the part of the man who ma nipulates the boat. Although they fly very slow • ly and are within the capacity of an indifferent shot, they must be killed at the first shot, or they will dive, and in a majority of instances be en tirely lost. Cranes are hunted in the Mississippi Valley, their plumage being the principal at traction.