THE FIELD FROM THE ARCHIVES
MAGINE a plantation of Scotch firs and stunted ash trees growing on the side of a hill, with a small loch or pond at its foot. The ash trees are on the edge of the wood and the firs in the middle of it; and it is the invariable habit of the pigeon, when flighting in to roost, to settle first in the ashes and, after having satisfied themselves that no hidden danger lurks, to move on into the warmer firs. This excess of precaution too often proves the undoing of the poor pigeon; for the wily sportsman conceals himself in the outermost edge of the denser thicket behind them, and thus obtains far easier shots
