of the Cambridgeshire, Audley End Stakes, &c., &c.; Vulcan, winner of the Liverpool Cup, Cambridgeshire, &c., &c.; Retriever, winner of the Goodwood Stake, Chesterfield Cup, &c., &c.; St. Lawrence, winner of the Whip, the Liverpool Stand Cup, &c., &c.; Foig-aBallagh, winner of the St. Leger, Cesarewitch, &c., &c.; with Johnny, Fireaway, Scalteen, Clinker, Miss Heathcote, Pride of Kildare, Mickey Free, and others, as very good second raters, in clearing off the loaves and fishes they allowed the sister country to provide. Having thus brought them and theirs down to the present, we may at once proceed with the life and adventures of the last importation.

PEDIGREE.

The Baron, a dark chesnut horse, was bred by his late owner, Mr. Watt, 1842, and is by Irish Birdcatcher, out of Echidna by Economist, her dam Miss Pratt by Blacklock - Gadabout by Orville-Minstrel by Sir Peter-Matron by Florizel-Maiden.

Echidna, who never appeared on active service, is quite a young mother, the Baron we believe being her son and heir; though not having the last volume of the Stud-book at our elbow, we don't say so on authority.

Birdcatcher, the sire of the Baron, winner of the St. Leger this season, is own brother to Foig-a-ballagh, winner of it last, being by Sir Hercules, out of the celebrated Guiccioli by Bob Booty, out of Flight, by Escape, now perhaps considered the best brood mare in the world. As a race-horse Birdcatcher will always rank high, though unfortunately, as far as absolute success went, his ever-ready and able opponent was generally found in the invincible Harkaway; while, as a stallion, Oh Don't, Micky Free, Honest Ned, The Cook, Beatrice, Ballinkeele, The Poacher, and that very promising twoyear-old, Osprey, assist the Baron in doing the paternal honours, and convincing the sporting public that all of 'em can run a bit.

In colour the Baron is a very dark chesnut, with one white heel and a star in the forehead, in height about fifteen hands three inches. He has a long head, with very projecting forehead (not what is termed Roman nose, for it dips in and becomes very taper), his neck rather short, straight, and light; his shouldersperhaps his most striking feature-very beautiful; withers high, and shoulders particularly oblique. Large fore-ribs, but back-ribs short; loins arched, quarters drooping; very full in the gaskins; good arms and thighs, but on rather a high leg. He is altogether a wiry, useful-looking animal, but by no means carrying anything particularly striking in his appearance. In the stable he is as quiet as a lamb.

Mr. Watt, the owner and breeder of the Baron, is better known in his own country, in Dublin, and on the Curragh, as "Watt the Veterinary," a cognomen denoting the high rank he holds in that profession. On the turf, too, he has always been pretty forward; and very lately with King Dan, Patriot, Wexford, Pickpocket, and Co., has contrived again and again to bring the scarlet colours home in the right place.

PERFORMANCES.

In the spring of the present year the Baron made rather an unpromising début on the Curragh, where, in the April Meeting, ridden by Doyle, and carrying 8st., he was not placed for the Madrid Stakes; Col. White's Highwayman, 7st. 11lb., winning it, Mr. E. J. Irwin's The Hermit, 7st. 11lb., second, and Mr. Ferguson's Singaway, 7st. 11lb., and Mr. Fitzpatrick's Brother to Kerdiffstown, 7st. 11lb., also not placed; even on the Baron, who never showed in front. On the Friday, in the same Meeting, having been bar-shod to remedy the foot-soreness to which his previous defeat was attributed, he won, ridden by Doyle, and carrying 8st. 5lb., the Second Class of Madrid Stakes of 25 sovs. each, 15 ft., and only five if declared (15 subs., 5 declared), beating Col. White's Highwayman, 7st. 11lb. (2), and Mr. Fitzpatrick's Brother to Kerdiffstown, 7st. 11lb. (3): 5 to 1 against the Baron, who won cleverly by two lengths.

At the Curragh June Meeting, ridden by Doyle, and carrying 7st. 101b.(3lbs. over his weight), he won the Kirwan Stakes of 50 sovs. each, 25 ft., and 5 if declared (15 subs., 11 declared), beating Mr. Quin's Wheel, aged, 8st. 2lb. (2), and Mr. Nolan's The Cook, 4 yrs., 8st. (3): even on the Baron, who won in a canter.

At Liverpool (when said to be not half fit), ridden by Doyle, he was not placed for the St. Leger; won by Mr. St. Paul's Mentor, Mr. Mostyn's Pantasa second, and Lord Eglinton's Vaudeville third; Lord Howth's Wolf-dog, Sir R. W. Bulkeley's Cinizelli, Mr. A. Johnstone's Sir Henry, and Mr. F. R. Price's Gothic also started: 5 to 1 against the Baron.

At Doncaster, after a few weeks' residence in England, aided by a few farther instructions from John Scott, and materially assisted by the fine jockeyship of Frank Butler, he won the Great St. Leger Stakes of 50 sovs. each, h. ft. (101 subs.), beating Major Yarburgh's Miss Sarah (2), Mr. Mostyn's Pantasa (3), and the following not placed:-Mr. Heseltine's Fitzallen, Major Yarburgh's Red Robin, Mr. Gully's Weatherbit, Mr. A. Johnstone's Annandale, Mr. Ramsay's Midlothian, Mr. L. Fox's June, Mr. Ferguson's Clear-the-way, Sir. R. W. Bulkeley's Chertsey, Mr. St. Paul's Mentor, Lord Miltown's Duc-an-Durras, Lord Chesterfield's Twig, and Mr. Painter's The Pacha: 10 to 1 against the Baron, who won by a length.

At Newmarket Second October Meeting, ridden by Nat, and carrying 7st. 91b. (including 10lb. extra), he won the Cesarewitch Stakes of 25 sovs. each, 15 ft., with 300 sovs. added, beating Lord Exeter's Wee Pet, 5 yrs., 6st. 13lb. (2), Mr. Drinkald's Vol-au-Vent, 4 yrs., 7st. 7lb. (3), and the following not placed.-Trueboy, 6 yrs., 8st. 9lb.; Stomacher, 4 yrs., 8st. 2lb.; General Pollock, 5 yrs., 7st. 11lb.; I-am-not-aware, aged, 7st. 91b; Intrepid, 4 yrs., 7st. 7lb.; Nottingham, 5 yrs., 7st. 5lb.; Hope, 3 yrs., 7st. 2lb.; Arctic, aged, 6st. 12lb. (carried 7st.); Plantaganet, 4 yrs., 6st. 12lb.; My Old Hack, aged, 6st. 11lb.; The Dart (late Paint Brush), 3 yrs., 6st. 8lb.; The Laird O'Cockpen, 3 yrs., 6st. 8lb.; Boarding School Miss, 4yrs., 6st. 7lb.; Alice (half-bred), 4 yrs., 6st. 6lb.; Clumsy, 3 yrs., 6st. 4lb.; Metal, 3 yrs., 6st.; Remorse, 3 yrs., 6st. (carried 6st. 7lb.);

3

Seven's-the-Main, 4 yrs., 5st. 11lb.; Keshengs, 3 yrs., 5st. 11lb.; Jenny Wren, 3 yrs., 5st. 8lb.; Ruff, 3 yrs., 5st. 8lb.; The Cook, yrs., 5st. 8lb. (carried 5st. 11lb.); Jet, 3 yrs., 4st. 71b.; and filly, by Velocipede, out of Amaryllis, 3 yrs., 4st. 4lb.: 5 to 1 against the Baron, who won easy by a length.

On the Monday, in the Houghton, The Baron appeared in fresh colours, Mr. Watts having been induced to hand him over to Mr. E. R. Clark for the consideration of £4,000 down, and one more if he won the Cambridgeshire. This, however, was not destined to be the case, as the Baron, ridden by Bumby, and carrying 7st. 8lb. (including 10lb. extra) ran home without a place; Mr. Greville's Alarm, 3 yrs., 7st. 9lb., winning; Mr. Ward's Event, 3 yrs., 6st. 2lb., second; and Lord Warwick's Yardley, 5 yrs., 8st., third; four and twenty others, in addition to our hero, not placed: 4 to 1 against the Baron.

SUMMARY OF THE BARON'S PERFORMANCES:

In 1845 he started 7 times, and won 4-
Second Class of the Madrid, value clear

£

155

The Kirwans ..

180

1st Oct. The First was everything that the most anxious sportsman could desire - cloudy, moist without rain, and warm, offering to men and dogs every advantage as regards sight and scent. During the remainder of the week, however, heavy wet prevailed; and to walk through a turnip field was equivalent to wading through a river, and through a cover to plunging at once into the open sea. Report speaks favourably of the game in most parts, though to our knowledge vast quantities of pheasants were destroyed during two or three stormy nights about the 10th of June; whole nides were swept away or beaten to the earth by the heavy rains that fell; and, consequently, second broods and small birds have been more than usually numerous this season. Who that has seen an old cock pheasant, with all his pride of plumage and his ivory mandibles, rise chuckling before the sportsman, and in the next moment torn, dishevelled, and flutter

ing in the dust, but must call to mind that exquisite description of Pope in his Windsor Forest?-it is a finished picture:

"See! from the brake the whirring pheasant springs,

And mounts exulting on triumphant wings!

Short is his joy, he feels the fiery wound,

Flutters in blood, and panting, beats the ground.
Ah! what avail his glossy, varying dyes,

His purple crest, and scarlet-circled eyes,
The vivid green his shining plumes unfold,

His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold ?"

Pheasant shooting does not occupy that position in the scale of sporting that might be expected from the enormous trouble, danger, and expense attendant on the preservation of the pheasant, as well as indeed from the magnificence of the bird itself: perhaps in its habits it is too nearly assimilated to the common fowl; or perhaps, from the present refined mode of murdering it by wholesale, the character of the sport becomes tame, and hence the wild appetite of the real sportsman ceases to be excited. There is another reason which, in the battue, must operate as a drawback, yea as an extinguisher, to the pleasure of the legitimate craftsman: the absence of dogs in watching and directing the movements of his "merry team," consists the main part of his pleasure; and to be posted at a point or corner of a cover to receive the half-domesticated game that is driven into his face, must be a miserable un-English amusement compared with true woodcraft and the usages of former days-in fact, he despises it.

Setters are generally considered the most useful dogs for pheasant shooting, especially in a country where turnip-fields or hedgerows abound: they work cover better than pointers, and draw quicker upon a running bird; but where there is much rough cover, a spaniel is indispensable. A well-broken spaniel, however, is of all other dogs the most difficult to be procured; though, when you do get one, there is no dog that will find more game, or give you more pleasure from his bustling and industrious habits. If used for pheasants only, he should be quite mute both on the haunt and when the bird springs, or your chance of getting shots will be greatly diminished, to say nothing of the disturbance created in your covers by a questing dog. The pheasant is a very shy bird, and loves quiet; so the less noise the better from men as well as dogs. Light tan-coloured, or red spaniels, should be avoided (the usual colour of the true Sussex cocker), because pheasants, probably mistaking them for foxes, are very apt to tree and chuckle, which is an object of which the sportsman is not desirous; with spaniels of other colours, it will be found by experience that this does not so often occur.

Oct. 20.-Hurrah for the sere and yellow leaf; with it comes the woodcock and all the attendant joys of woodcraft. Already have a few couple been bagged; and it may be fairly calculated that before the end of the present moon the first flights will have settled in. The great flight, however, does not arrive before the second week in November. Then, with a week's dry weather, and the wind at east or north-east, we may anticipate a good supply for the season. For many years we have not had so many cocks as in 1839 my diary

mentions six, seven, and eight couple bagged per diem in England. The weather of every day, it will be remembered, was very wet from the month of June to that of February, with the exception of one week; and that week was the first in November, and then the wind was at east and north-east. The little black-cock arrives first-they say from Siberia; then comes the large muff-cock: the former is quicker in his movements than the latter, and when flushed flies generally to a greater distance. From the frequently heavy and sleepy flight of the latter, it is known in some parts of England by the name of " timberdoodle," doodle being also applied to the owl. It averages twelve ounces in weight, whereas the Siberian cock does not usually exceed ten. The system of taking the woodcock in glade-nets no longer obtains to any extent in England: the perfection to which the use of the gun has been brought has superseded the practice. It may not, however be uninteresting to give a brief sketch of the mode of managing the glade-net. In deep covers a hollow passage was cleared between two rows of great trees, for a considerable distance; and across this avenue, midway between the branches and the ground, was suspended a large square or oblong net. About twilight, when the blackbirds begin to chatter, the woodcocks get on the wing in search of food, and invariably follow the course of glades, avenues, or roads; hence it has been termed "roading:" and the nets being conveniently set, a man stands by and takes them as they strike. In Devonshire and Cornwall, as many as twenty couple have been netted in one night. Springes are still commonly in vogue in these counties, and very destructive they are among snipe and woodcock, especially during frosty weather. On the Cornish moors, on Dartmoor, and on Exmoor as many as fifty or a hundred springes are set by one man during a night, and the ground is pegged out into little avenues which lead to the snare: but the practice is contraband, and the regular sportsman gives no quarter when he finds them. Cock shooting has been well denominated the fox-hunting of shooting: the bird itself is a wild, unsociable stranger, delighting in dark, unfrequented glades, and only visiting our island for three or four months in the year. To kill the first cock of the season in one's neighbourhood is a feat of no ordinary gratification to every sportsman; and the very flip of his wing, as he darts up through the cover, imparts a pleasure of which your genuine sportsman is keenly sensible. To attain perfection in cockshooting is a work of long experience, steadiness, and perseverance; and very few there are, comparatively speaking, who thoroughly understand their business. The workman does not wait for the cock to come to him, by standing on the outside of the cover while his spaniels are drawing the inside, but goes himself over head and ears into the depths of it, and there, by following up his team, seeks him out, and gets chances which he could not possibly have had were he planted on the outside; besides, one shot at a cock as he flushes is worth a dozen in the open when he is well upon wing. A friend of the writer's was yearly in the habit of visiting a cousin of his, a baronet in the west of England, who owned some famous cockcovers, and meeting a number of kindred spirits, all devoted to the wild sport which was there found in perfection; every man's shot