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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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shooting
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The three main game birds in Britain are the *grouse, the pheasant (traditionally said to have been introduced to England by the Romans) and the partridge. Of these the pheasant is shot in the greatest numbers, being the chief game bird reared for the purpose. The best shooting is considered to be when the birds are driven by beaters to fly fast or high across a waiting line of guns, but birds are also flushed out and shot by people walking with dogs across the moors or through fields and woods. Other types of bird considered 'fair game' are snipe, woodcock and wildfowl (ducks and geese). Rabbits and hares are also shot. The chief game birds are protected during statutory *close seasons.
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Shooting in its present form developed in the 18C, when more accurate shotguns made it possible to hit a flying bird. Until then the sport was closer to stalking, using a dog to sniff out game and then creeping as close as possible to shoot the birds on the ground.
Clay-pigeon shooting has its origins in England in the late 18C. It derives from trapshooting, in which live birds were released from box traps. The unpredictable direction of their flight was imitated in the 19C by glass balls catapulted from spring-loaded devices (sometimes the balls were filled with feathers, to simulate a kill when the moving target was hit). By the late 19C versions of the modern clay saucers were already in use.
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