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Thus (Suppose the pocket the red)

suppose 3 the pocket, 2 the red ball, and I the player's ball. Draw from the pocket 3 an imaginary line through the red ball 2. Then play with I, and strike the ball 2 where this line would appear to come out of the red ball.

FIG. 24.

This principle governs the making of all winning hazards, and may serve as a guide to young players as to how such hazards must be played. It is quite possible for a person to be a very good winning hazard striker, whilst at the same time he does not in the least know how he accomplishes these, except that his eye tells him where he must hit the ball he intends to pocket.

When, however, he knows the law which governs the case, he is likely to be more certain in his strokes.

If fifty diagrams were given showing how various winning hazards must be made, these diagrams if correctly drawn ought all to show the same thing, viz., that the ball that it is required to pocket must be struck by the player's ball at a point where the imaginary line drawn from the pocket through the centre of the ball would come out of that ball. This being the law, it is evident that a direct winning hazard cannot be made into a pocket when a line from the pocket to a ball makes, with a line from the ball to the striker's ball, a less angle than a right angle. As an example: a player who places his ball on the left spot [BILLIARDS of the D may be able to cut the red ball into the right top pocket when this red ball was on the top spot, but he could not cut the red into the left-hand top pocket, because the angle referred to would then be less than a right angle.

It is more difficult to make a winning than a losing hazard as a general rule. To make a winning hazard the ball must travel directly into the pocket; if it strike the cushion short of the pocket it will not drop therein, because no side can be communicated to the second ball. With a losing hazard, the striker's ball may hit the cushion short of the pocket, will "hug" the cushion, and will be carried into the pocket by the side on the ball. It requires, therefore, better sight, and a more accurate stroke, to make a winning than a losing hazard.

A winning hazard off a cushion may often present itself to a player whose eye has become accustomed to the angles. This hazard is termed a double, and may be made in the top, bottom, or middle pockets, the ball played at hitting the cushion and bounding across the table into a pocket.

The Spot Stroke. Some twenty years ago enormous breaks were made by W. J.

Peall, Fred White, and other leading professionals by the aid of the "spot stroke," the playing of which consisted of making a succession of winning red hazards into one or other of the top pockets, each hazard being so manipulated that the striker's ball was left in position to again pocket the red ball when replaced on its spot.

This stroke, requiring as it did extreme accuracy, judgment of strength, and nerve, entailed a very large amount of practice before a player could become adept at it; in fact, some of its leading exponents devoted several hours a day for years to mastering this one stroke.

As an instance of its prolific scoring efficacy when something approaching perfection was attained, I need only mention that in 1888 W. G. Peall made 633 spot hazards in succession, while about the same period he compiled two colossal breaks of 3,304 and 2,031 points, respectively, mainly by his skilful use of this stroke.

The former of these breaks was made in an exhibition match, but the latter, having been made in a match for money, when a man's nerves are naturally at extreme tension, afforded a marvellous demonstration of coolness and steadiness of eye and hand. a Of late years, however, professional players, having realised that the public were showing signs of weariness while watching the constant repetition of strokes which they BILLIARDS] considered became monotonous, have wisely agreed to play their matches spot-barred, the custom now being to place the red ball upon the spot midway between the middle pockets after two consecutive winning hazards have been made with it from its usual spot.

This limitation of the number of spot strokes allowed appears to me to be quite unnecessary when applied, as it now generally is, to amateur games, as, for reasons previously given, very few amateurs acquired sufficient proficiency to find the stroke of distinct advantage to them in fact, in the vast majority of cases the attempt to play it proved to be a decided disadvantage.

Many chances of a useful addition to the score, had the all-round game been adhered to, were sacrificed by the attempt to gain position for the "spot stroke," with the frequent result that, when gained, very few if any hazards were successfully negotiated before the red ball was left hanging in the jaws of a top pocket, thus leaving for the opponent a certain score with which to start his innings.

Years ago I did happen to make 33 consecutive spots in the course of a hundred and thirteen break, but although pleased at the time, I subsequently came to consider the break one of the most unfortunate I ever played, as many future games were undoubtedly lost by me owing to my keen desire to repeat the performance.

Personally, unless pitted against one of the very best amateurs, I would gladly consent to my opponent playing "spot in," and the more he attempted to avail himself of my permission, the better I should be pleased.

Amongst other unusual strokes, the use of which it has been found necessary in the best interests of the game either to limit or abolish, may be mentioned the "anchor stroke," and the "cradle-cannon," by means of which latter W. Cook, in June, 1907, amassed no less than 42,746 points.

These strokes, although requiring extreme delicacy of touch and nicety of strength, were of too mechanical a nature to appeal to the ordinary billiard player, and were certainly most wearisome to watch.

What Sort of Game do I Play? It is not uncommon for amateurs who, in consequence of living in the country, the colonies, or in India, have never seen any first-class professionals play billiards, either to overestimate their skill, or to have a very imperfect idea of what sort of game they play. Both in India and the colonies I have been told of amateurs who played billiards So splendidly that they were supposed to be nearly as good as Roberts, Cook, Peall, &c., and these amateurs seemed to hold the same belief about their play. It is desirable, therefore, that every person who plays billiards should have some means of testing his strength at the game, and thus to learn whether he is very good, good, or only moderate.

There are few proceedings more humiliating than for a player who has overestimated his game to offer a number of points to an adversary, and then, after a few games, to discover that this adversary can easily defeat him when both start even.

Every player who plays a strong game may probably have experienced many such instances; a few only will be mentioned here as examples.

To know some means by which a fair estimate of one's skill at billiards may be obtained is therefore very desirable, and many years ago I adopted a system by which any amateur can form a tolerably correct idea of his own powers. This system I called the "decimal" of a player, and this decimal is to be ascertained as follows:- 66 Each time a player makes his first stroke, after his adversary has played, make a mark on paper, or on a slate, and call this an entry." If the player make any number of successive scores, do not make any additional mark, except when this player makes his first stroke after his adversary has played. The number of marks will then indicate the number of entries a player has had. In order to ascertain a player's decimal, either at the end of a game or during any part of the game, divide the player's score by the number of entries; the result will give the player's decimal. Thus, suppose a player has had ten entries, and his score is 60; then 60 divided by IO gives 6 as the decimal. Suppose the entries have been 12, and the player's score is 50; then 50 divided by 12 gives 4.17 nearly.

Although the pockets on some tables are larger than on others, and these tables consequently are easier, and larger and more frequent scores can be made, yet this decimal will enable an amateur to form a fair estimate of his game, and it will prevent him, probably, from running away with the idea that he is a first-class player, when he is merely a very moderate performer.

As another example of this method of finding the decimal, the following is given :- The player A gives a miss at the commencement of the game; his adversary B gives another miss. A plays for a cannon, and does not score; B makes 5, and leaves the balls safe. A plays and does not score.

B makes 12; A follows and makes a break of 20. A has now had four entries, and his score is 21; his decimal, therefore, is 5.2.

Although during a game of one hundred up a fairly good amateur may make breaks of 25 or 30, yet the number of times that he fails to score reduces his decimal; and although he may imagine that he has played a very strong game, he will be surprised to find that his decimal is not more than about 4 or 5.

Having kept a record of more than one hundred matches that I have seen played, of five hundred up, I can state that the amateur who makes a decimal of over 7 is a hard man to beat. An average amateur rarely reaches a decimal of 4, unless the table is very easy, and in too many cases it is under 3.

When a player has ascertained by this system that his decimal rarely, if ever, exceeds 5, it is a delusion for him to imagine that he is a strong player, even though he be able to defeat all opponents at his club or station.

In a match played between John Roberts, jun., and W. Cook, on May 28th, 1877, Roberts scored 1,001 in 85 entries; his decimal was therefore nearly 11.8. This was, I believe, on a match table, where the pockets were very small. At Calcutta, in 1877, I saw John Roberts, jun., finish a game of 500 up in 6 entries, thus giving a decimal of about 83.3, while only the day before that upon which I write this, Stevenson, when playing in a tournament game against Diggle, scored 1,240 in IO entries, thus having an average of 124.

If a table or the balls are not perfectly true, the better player is brought more nearly on a level with a bad or indifferent player, than when everything is perfect. If the top of a table were not exactly true, the spot stroke could not be played to perfection, and the red ball might consequently be left over the pocket by the best spot stroke player. An example of this kind occurred in my experience, in 1877, at Allahabad, in Central India, where I was a visitor. After a trial with members of the club, I was invited to be the opponent of John Roberts, jun., in a private match at the club, he giving me 650 out of 1,000 all in. In one or two private trials I had found my decimal to be about 7 or 8, but this was not good enough to give me a chance of winning if the spot stroke could be played as Roberts could play it. I found, however, that the top pockets were rather difficult, and the [BILLIARDS top of the table not quite true; so that I considered I might have a chance, however slight. Without attempting any rash or brilliant strokes, I played a safe game, and muddled on as quickly as I could, with the result that I won the match by over 100 points. In a return match at Calcutta, some months afterwards, and with the same odds, I was beaten by more than 70 points, the table at Calcutta being perfectly true, and the top pockets easier than were those of the table at Allahabad.

My decimal in both games was nearly the same, viz., slightly above 6.

The time test is not so accurate a measure of play as is the decimal. Some players are slow. An adversary may begin to chalk his cue when he should be playing; he may walk round the table and look at the balls before he plays; may stand during half a minute considering what he will try to accomplish. Consequently, the game proceeds slowly.

Then again, the winner may have the game all to himself, his opponent occupying the table during a comparatively short time.

A player who has been accustomed to play on one table, and with his own cue, finds when he plays on a strange table, and with a cue that he has never handled before, that he cannot score at his customary rate, and he may be defeated by an opponent who he feels plays an inferior game. This fact should be remembered when any person plays for the first few times on a strange table, otherwise a player may overrate his game, and commit the unpleasant mistake of giving points to an opponent who at first could not beat him when the two players started even. The converse of this fact should also be borne in mind, and care should be taken not to under-estimate the skill of a player, because during the first two or three games on a table strange to him he gives no evidence of good play.

Two examples may be given of this fact.

Many years ago, Mr. W. Cook was invited to Woolwich to play two exhibition matches-one during the afternoon, the other during the evening at the Royal Artillery mess-room table. I was asked to be his opponent in the afternoon game, he giving me 250 out of 500, spot stroke allowed. I won the match by 170 points, and many of the lookers-on who were acquainted with the skill of Cook imagined that the result was a true representation of our respective games. I knew better, and attributed my success to the fact that the table was strange to the professional, and the game was played by daylight. In the BILLIARDS] evening Cook's opponent was a brother officer of mine, who played a slightly better game than I played, and it was imagined that Cook would again be easily defeated.

A very different exhibition was now given, for although the amateur played well, and commenced with a break of over thirty, yet Cook caught him soon after he had reached three hundred, and won by more than one hundred points.

Some players appear to play a much better game than they really do play, whilst others seem to play a much worse game.

Even experienced professionals sometimes make mistakes in estimating the strength of a player from mere appearances. An amateur to whom I used to give ten points in one hundred, and have the best of it, played frequently with John Roberts, sen., when his rooms were in Leicester Square.

Upon my asking Roberts one day how he would handicap this player and me, he said that I ought to receive fifteen in one hundred.

Flukes. What is termed a fluke is when a player makes a score for which he did not play.

As a rule bad players obtain more flukes during a game than a good player, and a very hard hitter is more likely to fluke than is one who plays gently. Many players seem to imagine that by hitting hard and playing for flukes they can compete with a player who thinks before he hits a ball. This is a mistake, as it is uncertainty struggling against certainty; and the sooner a player who desires to become even moderately good gives up playing for flukes, the sooner he will begin to improve in his game.

I believe it was Roberts, sen., who used to say that more might be learnt from a fluke than from an averagely easy stroke.

This is undoubtedly true. When playing at pool, and endeavouring to make a winning hazard, I found that I frequently holed my own ball off a cushion, and thus lost a life, by what some players would term a fluke. After thinking over this "accident," it occurred to me that as it happened so often, the stroke might be studied and made available for billiards.

Having played for it, I found that I could accomplish the stroke, not every time, but sufficiently often to make it worth playing for in favourable circumstances, when nothing else is on the balls.

Many players are entirely put off their game when an adversary gets one or two flukes in succession; those who are so put off are not men to back in a match. A fluke should be accepted as one of the inevitables; probably before the game is over a fluke may fall to the share of the other player, and steady, careful play must tell in the long run. A player who has had a fluke or two, not unusually plays rashly, and hits hard, under the impression that his luck will continue. Many games are lost by such a proceeding, as the adversary is given chances which he would never have received had not a fluke fallen to the lot of his opponent.

When the game of an expert professional player is watched, a fluke is rarely seen, the balls are placed so carefully by each stroke that no accidents occur, and the game proceeds like a piece of machinery. It is only when an unskilled player knocks the balls about all over the table that a fluke is of frequent occurrence. Such a result, however, is to be expected; and it is well to bear in mind that the greater the number of flukes that any player obtains, the less is his skill, consequently the less likely he is to win in the long run.

Billiard Matches. - Matches of billiards vary in length according to the skill of the players. For amateurs, five hundred up is a fair test of the relative skill of the competitors; and if five hundred is scored during less than two hours, the amateur who succeeds in making this amount ought to be fairly satisfied with his performance.

To play a match of billiards either for the championship of a club, station, regiment, or when backed by outsiders, is a very different thing from merely playing a game of a hundred up for amusement. When playing a match, neither player knows who may be backing him; each should, therefore, play his very best, and he ought never to throw away a chance. In a game of five hundred up between amateurs, the luck, both in breaks and flukes, is usually about equally divided. If one player obtain luck at the commencement of the game, his opponent is almost certain to be favoured by it at the end. To play patiently, and wait one's time, is, therefore, essential. It is also essential, if the luck comes to one player in the early part of his match, that he should not be carried away by it, and begin to play for all sorts of difficult strokes, under the impression that he is so much ahead that he must win, and can therefore cut down his opponent, and beat him by any number of points; more than one match of five hundred up has been lost in this way. Each individual should play steadily and safely; a consistent game is difficult to beat. Some players who pride themselves on their brilliant play may succeed in making a dashing stroke and in obtaining a break from it. It too often happens, however, that such players will continue to play for brilliant strokes, will fail to accomplish them, and leave the adversary a long break. It is a very common error of amateurs who have a match on hand to go, a day or so previous to their match, to some professional, and take lessons. By this means their regular game is broken up, as it were, and they have not mastered the novelties they have tried to learn. seen Had they received instruction a month or so before the match, and had then, by practice, fully acquired a knowledge of those things which had been pointed out to them, their game would probably have been strengthened. I have amateurs who had just received instruction, miss the most easy cannon or hazard, either of which they almost invariably made, when they have attempted to make this in a way different from that which they had always previously adopted. a or Another great mistake frequently made is for a man, with the idea of going into training for a billiard match or handicap, completely to alter his usual style of living shortly before the event.

Should he be a smoker or a drinker, in moderation be it understood, to attempt to knock off these habits suddenly will not tend to improve his prospects of success, as in all probability he will fret and worry over the deprivation from these accustomed solaces, with the result that when the fateful time arrives for him to enter "the pit," he will do so feeling somewhat below par, and with his nerves in a more or less shattered condition. All the precautions given for playing a good game of billiards should be remembered during a match. The excitement of the contest sometimes causes forgetfulness of elementary matters, and a player omits to chalk his cue, or he does not remember that when he has the best of a game he ought to keep it. He sometimes degenerates into bad habits, which he had when quite a young player, and stands badly, plays a stroke when imperfectly balanced on one leg, or commences working his cue on the pump-handle principle, &c.

When not actually playing his strokes, a player should sit down and obtain as much rest as possible. It is somewhat of a trial of endurance to play during two hours, and to keep one's faculties on the alert during the whole time; and a steady player, with endurance, will often defeat in a five hundred up game a player who, being more brilliant, could win three games [BILLIARDS out of four if these games were merely one hundred up, and were not played during the same day.

When looking on at the performances of a brilliant player, one is sometimes disposed to over-rate the strength of his game. He appears to make, with ease, strokes which are very difficult, and when he has an opponent possessed of only moderate skill, he may run off a game very quickly. Those who only look superficially into matters would conclude that this brilliant player could easily defeat another player whom they name. If, however, the test of the decimal be applied, it will probably be found that, in spite of his dashing play, he has made during a game of one hundred a decimal of only just over 4; and as he despised his opponent, he never gave a safety miss during the game. Any person, therefore, who knew that his average decimal was about 6.5, even when opposed to a worthy antagonist, need not fear the result if he gives even twenty-five in one hundred.

To give one hundred points in five hundred seems at first sight a very long start, but five hundred is a long journey for an amateur to travel, and if the giver of the points play steadily, and avoid getting flurried, even though his opponent at first draw even further ahead than he was at the start, he will usually find that his opponent towards the end of the game becomes nervous, especially when he finds that he is being very rapidly gained upon.

If one hundred points are given by A to B, A should bear in mind how much he ought to gain in every hundred, and he will then know that he has no cause to be alarmed about the result, if he is anywhere near the score he ought to have reached.

As an example, the following may serve as a guide, A giving one hundred in five hundred:

B A 100 : o 200 ought to be 125 300 250 400 375 دو دو Under such conditions the match would be very even, A having to make 125 before his adversary scores 100.

The better player is usually supposed to have the advantage in a long game; but if the handicap be fairly made, and both play a consistent game, there is no reason why such should be the case.

A series of matches is now sometimes played by professionals on what is termed the "American Handicap" principle; that BILLIARDS] is, each player plays with every other player who joins the handicap. Thus, if the players are represented by letters as follows, viz.:- ABCDEF A plays a game with B, C, D, E, and F. B plays with C, D, E, and F, besides the game he played with A, and so on; each player therefore plays five games, and fifteen games in all must be played when there are six players, or twenty-eight games when there are eight players, as, although most people would be inclined to say off-hand that thirty and fifty-six games were respectively necessary, sight must not be lost of the fact that when A plays B, they are both playing one of their five or seven games, as the case may be, at the same time. When points are given, two players receiving points start from their respective points when they play against one another. Thus, if A started from scratch, and gave B 100 points and C 200 points, then when B was opposed to C, B would start at 100, Cat 200.

This system of handicap is somewhat tedious, and is certainly not so interesting to watch as is a match between two players, although it certainly has the merit of giving a player who may have been unluckily beaten in his first heat a further chance to show that, notwithstanding his initial defeat, he is on the average the best man at the points.

Whoever wins the greatest number of games in the handicap is the winner, and if the handicap be made impartially, it is, of course, very difficult to predict the winner.

The usual system in handicaps is to draw lots as to which player meets another player, and whoever is defeated in one game is out of the handicap. Thus, if six players were in a common handicap, the first three games would dispose of three players; one of the three winners would draw a bye, and would have to play the winner of the other two; therefore it would require only five games to decide as to the winner.

As one who has in my time taken part in a good many amateur matches and handicaps, upon the result of some of which the total sums wagered by spectators must have amounted to hundreds of pounds, I beg to offer to novices who are anxious to win prizes at the game a few practical hints culled from my experience.

I. Do not enter the billiard room long before the time set for your game, as the vitiated atmosphere which must pertain to a room full of gas fumes, tobacco smoke, &c., is very apt to produce a listless, lethargic feeling, whereas you want to feel as fresh and fit as possible. 2. Do not practically live in a billiard room for the last few days prior to the event, as constant practice shortly before the time is more likely to make you "stale" than to improve your performance. The time can be far more profitably spent by going to the seaside, or by taking some walks of moderate length (with a congenial companion for choice), than which there is no better exercise for brightening the eye. 3. Concentrate your attention on game, watching every stroke of your opponent's as carefully as you would your own. Many a game has been lost through failure to notice foul strokes made by an adversary, the claiming of which would have altered the result. the 4. In furtherance of this vigilance, do not enter into conversation with anyone while your opponent is playing, and try to ignore any audible remarks which may be made by spectators. 5. Carry a piece of chalk in your pocket to save having to look about for it when required. 6. Should you wish to back yourself during play, instruct some friend to arrange the transaction for you. a 7. Without worrying about the score, take note of it, especially towards the end of the game: the timely giving of safety-miss or the running of a coup may mean the different between success or failure. 8. Find out whether ivory, bonzoline, or crystallate balls are to be used in the contest, and practice only with the kind selected, as, owing to the variations in the resiliency of the different makes, a sudden change from one kind to another will hopelessly upset anyone's game. 9. Try your utmost to win, but, should success fail to reward your efforts, take your licking with a good grace, and determine to improve in the future. How to Learn Billiards. To play a game of which one is very fond, and which one has played during many years, and to be defeated in this game four times out of five by any opponent one meets is not satisfactory. For such a result to occur there must be some serious defect in one's play. As a general rule the individual who plays a game the most frequently becomes by practice the better player; but this is not always the case as regards billiards. We may meet men who have commenced billiards when they were young, have played all their lives, and yet before their sight or nerves failed them were beaten by very young players, who had not had even onefourth of the experience of their elders. Such a result must be due to some defect in the play of the older performer, and may usually be accounted for by one of the following causes :- To holding one's cue in an incorrect manner, and when making a stroke working the arm like a pump-handle. Playing a game without using one's intelligence, or considering where the balls will travel to after a stroke or score has been made.

Looking on at good players without observing how such hold their cue, strike their ball, or play a particular stroke.

Playing a succession of strokes in the most incorrect manner, and when told by good players how such strokes ought to have been played, ignoring such advice, and announcing that he prefers playing his own way.

It is almost painful to look on at very bad players, and to see them miss, time after time, the easiest scores in consequence of faults in their style which could so very easily be overcome, and to find that these players seem to prefer keeping to their faulty style, rather than take the trouble to practise, and try to acquire better form.

Some forty or fifty years ago it was much harder work to become a fairly good player than it is at present. In those days even the best players were not equal to even a third-rate professional of the present time, and strokes now made with ease were scarcely thought of. If John Roberts, sen., made a break of over one hundred, it was announced in the newspapers as a remarkable score, whereas in 1904 his son scored 1,392 in an innings by all-round play (although this break was not accepted as a record), and now spot-barred breaks of over five hundred are of fairly frequent occurrence.

In justice to the pioneers of the game, it is only fair to remember that a great improvement has taken place in the manufacture of billiard tables and accessories, the lower cushions especially being an enormous advantage, and that the pockets of the old "championship tables" were vastly more difficult than even those of the present-day "standard table."

To look on at first-class play is not of much benefit unless the observer watch carefully how strokes are made, and then practise these strokes until he can at least feebly imitate them. In olden times one very rarely saw what may be called first-class play unless one went to Roberts' rooms, or visited Brighton and saw Kentfield. There [BILLIARDS were certainly some amateurs whose game would even now be considered good, among these being the late Lord Eglinton, Admiral Rous, Mr. Chinnery, and others. At Pook's rooms, in St. James's Street, a club given mainly to billiards, the above-named players might be seen, and much might be learnt by watching them. Now, however, when such performers as John Roberts, jun., Stevenson, Dawson, Diggle, and others can be watched, and lessons obtained by this watching, it seems singular that so many amateurs who are sufficiently fond of billiards to play every day, are yet so feeble as rarely to score more than thirty or forty points during each quarter of an hour. The reason for such a result is mainly that such players do not exercise their powers of observation. They have acquired bad habits, and these have become chronic.

They do not know that they possess these bad habits, and consequently they make no effort to eradicate these.

It is never too late to learn, and if an amateur find that his decimal is below 3 or 4, he should realise the fact that such a result is due either to the manner in which he holds his cue and strikes his ball, or to the strength with which he plays being faulty. He should then place himself under the instruction of some amateur or marker who may be sufficiently observant to have noticed the defects in style which ought to be corrected, and if the instruction be attended to, the pupil will, after a week or a fortnight's practice, be surprised at the progress he has made.

An amateur should think of the sort of strokes that he usually fails to make, but which he sees other players succeed in making nearly every time. Then he ought to inquire why it is that he fails where another succeeds. The cause of his failure will then be discovered, and he must be indeed dull who cannot, or will not, avoid such a cause. To play a game during ten or fifteen years, and not to improve in this game, is a proof that there is something very wrong; yet the average amateur, when he has reached a certain point, does not improve five points in one hundred, even though he play daily during many years.

When a player has the table to himself, and knocks the balls about for his amusement, he usually places the balls in such a position that he can make an easy score.

This is a mistake; he should place them in positions where he knows from experience he rarely scores, and he should then practise strokes that he has heard of, or has seen good players succeed in making.

He ought to bear in mind that the most BILLIARDS] common cause of failing in a stroke is because he does not strike his own ball where he thinks he does, and he should endeavour to overcome this error. If he strike his own ball below the centre, and the object ball nearly full, he must screw almost a right angle, if he fail to screw nearly a right angle, he ought to know that his failure to do so must be due either to his having failed to strike his own ball where he thought he did, or because he hit the other ball too full or too fine. By taking one stroke at a time, and practising this stroke for an hour, day after day, he will master it. He then will know how he makes this stroke, and will rarely be caught out of practice. A player who does not know how or why he succeeds in making a stroke will be quite unable to play up to his best form if he allows a month or so to elapse without playing a game; but this is not the case with a player who knows why he obtains certain results by striking his ball in a particular manner. person desirous of improving should take every opportunity of playing with an opponent who is better than himself, and endeavour by observation to learn from this superior player. ،، 66 Each A. W. DRAYSON, Major-General.

W. V. VERNON-CHAPMAN.

The Games of Pool. Those most commonly played are "Pool" (ordinary), Snooker Pool," "Black Pool," "Indian Pool," and "Pyramids," while other varieties, such as "Skittle Pool," "Pin Pool," Cork Pool," &c., are occasionally met with. These latter, although amusing for a change, are not recommended to anyone anxious to excel at Billiards, as, owing to the niggling and cramped nature of the play necessary, anyone persistently indulging in them is very apt to lose that freedom of style known as "letting the arm go with the cue," which is so necessary for fine execution.

To the lover of a scientific game, a drawback common to all pool games is that they do not possess much interest unless a money stake be played for, whereas a game of billiards may be thoroughly enjoyed without any pecuniary consideration entering it.

The stakes at ordinary pool vary in different rooms and clubs, the usual proportion, however, being that the value of each "life" should be about one-third that of the pool; thus in public rooms the stake usually varies from sixpenny lives and eighteenpenny pool, to one shilling lives and three shilling pool.

Snooker and Indian Pools are generally played for some previously arranged points, the loser paying to the winner a number of pence, shillings, or whatever stake may have been agreed upon, equivalent to the number of points by which he lost the game.

The usual course at Pyramids is to have so much dependent on each ball, with perhaps an additional wager on the game.

With the exception of Indian Pool, into which cannon play enters, skill at the pool games recommended consists entirely of winning hazard striking and safety play; each man is against all others in the pool, and whilst doing all the damage he can to them, must endeavour to prevent the next player inflicting injury upon him in return.

It therefore follows that, although a player may be inferior to his opponents as a hazard striker, he may, from possessing a superior knowledge of strength, and better judgment as to where to place his ball for position or for safety, prove himself to be the most successful player.

When the number of players in an ordinary pool is reduced to three, an unwritten law, conducive to good sportsmanship, is to the effect that a player, if he cannot take a life, shall endeavour so to leave the ball he plays on as to give the player following him a reasonable chance of obtaining safety in his turn.

Pool, when played among gentlemen, is a social and interesting game, but when the players are of a different class, it admits of a clique being formed, which will, by hanging together, manage to share nearly every pool. It is necessary, therefore, before entering pools in public rooms, to know something of the class of company playing; there are frequently individuals hanging about public billiard tables who live on the winnings acquired by their skill, and are not over scrupulous as regards their methods.

To play a good game of Pyramids caution is essential, and when an easy hazard is open to a player, he should well consider where he ought to leave his ball in order to secure another easy hazard.

A good hazard striker who can place his ball may be able to pocket a considerable number of balls in succession, whereas one careless stroke may cause such a break to be left for his opponent.

When more than two players take part in a game of Pyramids it is usually known as as Shell out," each player in his turn receiving from, or paying to, the other players the arranged value of a ball according to whether he, or they, make a winning hazard, a losing hazard, or a miss.

The first stroke at Pyramids is usually played by striking the pyramid on one side with sufficient strength that the player's ball may, after cannoning on to the top cushion, come round the table and rest under the bottom cushion, without having disturbed the pyramid very much. For purposes of reference, and as an assistance to the novice in his understanding of the different games, the latest rules of Billiards, &c., as approved by the Council of the Billiards Control Club, are appended.

RULES.

BILLIARDS, as authorised by the Council of the Billiards Control Club:-Bayly N. Akroyd, Major W. Broadfoot, Sir George Chetwynd, Bart., F. C.

Coxhead, Viscount Deerhurst, W. Herbert Fowler, J. L. Godfrey, Spencer H. Gollan, the Earl de Grey, K.C.V.O., G. N. E. Hall-Say, R. S.

Henderson, G. M. Hill, G. W. Hillyard, W. W.

Kerr, R. H. Rimington-Wilson, the Duke of Rutland, Colin Smith, Russell D. Walker. I.-English Billiards is played on a table with pockets at the corners and at the middle of the longer sides; three balls, plain white, spot-white, and red, are used, and the game consists of such number of points as may be agreed to by the players. The players are ordinarily two in number, but the game may be played by four persons, two being partners, or by any convenient number of players. The winner is the player or side which first scores the points agreed on. 2. The slate bed of the table shall measure 12 ft. by 6 ft. It in. The edge of the cushions shall not project over the slate more than 2 in.

The height of the table from the floor to the top of the cushion rail shall be from 2 ft. 9 in. to 2 ft. 10 in. In no case shall the top of the cushion be less than 2 ft. 9 in. from the material on which the player stands. The pockets should conform to the templates authorised by the Billiards Control Club. A straight line drawn 29 in. from the face of the bottom cushion and parallel to it is called the Baulk Line, and the intervening space is termed the Baulk. The D is a semicircle described in baulk, with its centre at the middle of the baulk line and with a radius of II in. Spots are commonly placed on the baulk line, at the intersections of the semicircle and at its centre. The other spots marked on the table are: (a) The Spot, 12 in. from the face of the top cushion; (b) the Centre Spot, half-way between the middle pockets; and (c) the Pyramid Spot, half-way between the Centre Spot and the face of the top cushion; all three being on the centre longitudinal line of the table. 3.-The balls should be of equal size and weight; the diameter for match play may vary between 21 in. and 25 in. The set of balls may be changed during a game by consent of the players or by decision of the referee or marker. 4.-(a) To string is to play from the baulk line to the top cushion with the object of leaving player's ball as near as possible to the bottom cushion. (b) A player's ball is in hand when it is off the table. (c) A ball is in baulk when it rests on the baulk line or between that line and the bottom cushion. (d) A ball is forced off the table which comes to rest otherwise than on the bed of the table [BILLIARDS or in a pocket. A white ball is in play when it has been finally placed on the table and struck with the point of the cue, and remains so until it is pocketed or forced off the table. The red ball is in play when spotted, and remains so till it is pocketed or forced off the table. (e) The person about to play is termed the striker; his opponent is the non-striker. (f) A stroke is made by a player aiming at and touching or striking his ball when it is in play with the point of his cue. It is incomplete till all three balls are at rest. (g) To break the balls the red ball is placed on the spot and the striker plays from the Dout of baulk. (h) A cannon is made by a striker's ball coming in contact with the other two balls. (i) A winning hazard is made when a ball other than the striker's ball is pocketed; a losing hazard is made when the striker's ball is pocketed, after contact with another ball. (j) A miss is a stroke where the striker's ball fails to touch either of the other balls. (k) A foul stroke is one made in contravention of the rules of the game. Foul strokes are defined by Rule 17. (1) Two balls touching each other and each touching a side of the jaws of a pocket are said to be jammed. 5.-Choice of balls and order of play shall, unless mutually agreed upon, be decided by the players stringing simultaneously, the winner, whose ball is nearer the cushion, having the option. The red ball having been placed on the spot, the striker shall play from the D.

When the red ball is pocketed or forced off the table it shall be replaced on the spot; if the spot is occupied by another ball, the red shall be placed on the pyramid spot, and if that also is occupied, it shall be placed on the centre spot.

PROVIDED that if the red ball is pocketed twice in succession in one break from the spot, without the conjunction of another score, it shall be placed on the centre spot, or, if that is occupied, on the pyramid spot, and should both these spots be occupied, the red shall be replaced on the spot. If again pocketed it shall be placed on the spot. Spot-stroke play may, if the players agree, be arranged for by suspending this proviso.

The players are entitled to alternate strokes unless a score is made, in which case the striker continues playing from where his ball rests or from hand, till stopped by failure. The nonstriker then follows on with the other white ball. 6.-When striker's ball is in hand it shall be played out of baulk (save as hereinafter provided) from the D; when non-striker's ball is in hand it remains so till his turn to play arrives, except when spotted as a penalty under Rule 18. 7.-When striker's ball is in hand it may be played against a cushion in baulk to hit a ball which is out of baulk. 8. If a ball is out of Baulk any part of its surface may be played on if striker's ball be in hand; if a ball is in baulk no part of its surface may be played on direct from hand. In the latter case his ball must strike a cushion out of baulk before touching a ball that is in baulk. 9.-A player may not make two misses in successive innings, unless he or the opponent scores after the first miss, or a double baulk intervenes. 10.-When striker's ball remains touching another ball, red ball shall be spotted, and nonstriker's ball, if on the table, shall be placed on the centre spot; striker shall play from the D; if non-striker's ball is in hand, red shall be BILLIARDS] spotted, and striker shall break the balls. When striker's ball stops so near another ball that it is doubtful whether they touch, the striker must request the referee's or marker's opinion; if there is neither referee nor marker, he must consult (i) And generally by any stroke made in contravention of these rules. A foul stroke must be claimed before the next stroke is made, otherwise it is condoned. the non-striker before playing. 11.-A ball which has stopped on the edge of a pocket shall, if it falls in from vibration, be replaced; if it balances momentarily on the edge and falls in, it must not be replaced. 12. If the red ball and non-striker's ball are jammed in the jaws of a pocket, red shall be placed on the spot, non-striker's ball on the centre spot, and striker shall play from the D. 13.-Consecutive ball-to-ball cannons are limited to 25; on the completion of this number the break shall only be continued by the intervention of a hazard or indirect cannon. 14. If a ball is disturbed otherwise than by the player it shall, if moved, be placed on the table by the marker or referee on the spot which in his judgment the ball had, or, if moving, would have, occupied. This rule covers the case in which a non-striker or non-player causes the striker to touch or move a ball. 15.-The non-striker shall, when the striker is playing, avoid standing or moving in the line of sight; he should sit or stand at a fair distance from the table. He may, in case of his enforced absence from the room, depute a substitute to watch his interests and claim a foul if necessary. 16.-Points are thus scored: For a cannon or white hazard, two; for a red hazard, three. If more than one hazard, or a combination of hazards and cannon cannon, be made by the same stroke, all are scored. Thus for a cannon cannon and white hazard, or for two white hazards, four points are scored; for a cannon and red hazard, five points; for two red hazards, or for a cannon and two white hazards, six points; and so on, the maximum score for a single stroke being ten points. When a losing hazard is combined with a cannon it shall be scored two or three points, according to whether the white or red ball was first struck; but if the red and opponent's ball are struck simultaneously and striker's ball enters a pocket, two points only are scored for the losing hazard. Points are also scored under Rule 18. 17.-Foul strokes are made by a player as follows:- (a) By touching his ball more than once in one stroke, or after it has come in contact with another ball. The push stroke is prohibited by this clause. (b) By forcing a ball off the table. (c) By playing when both his feet are off the floor. (d) By playing before the balls have stopped rolling, or before they have been spotted. (e) By striking or touching his ball whilst in play otherwise than with the point of his cue.

If a player desires to clean his ball, he may with his adversary's permission remove it for that purpose; should permission be refused he may request the marker to clean and replace his ball. (f) By touching or striking a ball in play otherwise than is allowed under these rules. This covers touching a ball with the rest, and not getting the cue out of the way of a ball in motion. (g) By playing with the wrong ball; the original choice of balls shall in every case determine the ownership. All points made previous to the claim of foul to be scored. (h) By playing out of turn; by making more than 25 consecutive ball-to-ball cannons; by making two misses in contravention of Rule 9. 18. For a miss the non-striker shall add one to his score; if in consequence of a miss the striker's ball goes into a pocket (generally known as running a coup), or is forced off the table, the non-striker shall add three to his score. If after contact with another ball, striker's or any other ball is forced off the table, the non-striker shall add two points to his score.

For a foul stroke the striker cannot score, and his opponent plays from hand. His ball shall be placed on the centre spot, the red shall be spotted, and his opponent shall play from the D.

For refusing to continue the game when called upon by the referee or marker to do so, or for conduct which, in the opinion of the referee or marker, is wilfully or persistently unfair, a player shall lose the game. 19. The marker shall keep and call the score, hand the rest, and attend to the players, and in the absence of a referee act as such. He shall not give advice or opinion on points affecting play.

Spectators should not interfere with the game, the players, or the marker. 20. The duty of the referee is to decide disputes between players in accordance with these rules. He shall, on appeal, if players cannot agree, decide whether a ball is in or out of baulk.

On similar appeal he shall decide whether a ball is fairly placed when about to be played from hand. He may require the striker, after having finally placed his ball, to defer his stroke to permit inspection. He is, moreover, responsible for the proper conduct of the game, and must of his own initiative intervene should he observe any breach of the rules.

In case of dispute between players, should the referee have failed to see what happened, he may take the evidence of the spectators best placed for observation and decide accordingly.

The referee shall not give advice nor express opinion on points affecting play.

The decision of the referee, or, in his absence, the marker, on questions raised under these rules shall be final.

POOL.

I. 1. The game of Pool is played with coloured balls, which (or small duplicate ones) are dealt out from a pool basket or bag to the players at the beginning of each game.

Cues and rests of any description may be used. 2.-The players must play in the order the colours are placed on the pool marking-board, and the first stroke of each player-excepting Whiteis made from the D, as also the succeeding strokes of every player when in hand. 3. The object throughout the game is to pocket the ball played on. White is placed on the billiard spot; Red plays on White, Yellow on Red, and so on, each player playing on the last ball, unless it be in hand; in that case the player plays on the nearest ball. 4.-Each player pays into the pool the amount decided on; and starts with three lives (excepting a less number be agreed upon for any particular player). 5.-When the striker pockets a ball in accordance with these rules he is said to take a life: he must continue to play on the nearest ball until he fails to take a life, or until all the other balls are off the table. In which case his own ball is placed on the spot. 6. The first player who loses his three lives is entitled to purchase a star by paying into the pool the same sum as at the commencement, for which he receives lives equal to the lowest number on the board. The player, however, must decide whether he will star or not before the next stroke is played. If the first player out refuse to star, the second may do so; if the second refuse, the third may do so; and so on, until only two are left in the pool; in which case the privilege ceases. 7.-If before a star two or more balls be pocketed by the same stroke, including the ball played at, each having one life, the owner of the ball first struck has the option of starring; but if he refuse, and more than one remain, the persons to whom they belong must draw lots for the star. If the balls pocketed do not include the ball played at, their owners must draw lots for the star. 8.-Only one start is allowed in a pool up to six players; two stars are allowed in a pool of seven or more players. The players taking a second star shall pay double the amount of the first. 9.-The last two players cannot star. 10. Should a player lose a life by his own stroke, the next player plays at the nearest ball to his own; but if the next player's ball be in hand, he plays at the nearest ball to the centre spot of the D. 11. If a doubt arise respecting the distance of balls, the distance must, if the player's ball be in hand, be measured from the centre spot of the D; but if the player's ball be not in hand, the measurement must be made from his ball to the others. If the distances be equal, then the owners of the balls must draw lots. All measurements to be made by the Referee. 12.-Baulk is no protection. 13. A life is lost by a ball being pocketed by the striker in his proper turn; the owner of such ball paying forfeit to the striker. 14.-The striker loses a life by any one of the following means:-By pocketing his own ball; making a miss (except as in Rule 24); running a coup, or by forcing any ball off the table; by playing with a wrong ball; by playing out of his turn; by stopping or touching his own ball before it has done rolling; or by his ball striking another ball before hitting the one he ought to have played on. 15. If the striker pocket a ball, and by the same stroke lose a life in any way, the player whose ball is pocketed does not lose a life. 16.-A player losing a life by his own stroke pays forfeit to the player whose ball he plays on or should have played on. If a player plays out of turn or with the wrong ball, he loses a life to the plaver who preceded him. 17.-If a player miss the ball he ought to play on and strike another ball, and pocket it, he loses a life, and his ball must be taken off the table when it has come to rest, and both balls must remain in hand until it be their owners' turn to play.

If the striker's ball miss the ball played at, he loses a life, and his ball is removed from the table, but not until his ball, or any other ball disturbed by the same stroke, shall have come to rest. If by the same stroke he pocket another ball, the owner does not lose a life. Any ball removed under this rule, and any ball pocketed, remains in hand until it is the owner's turn to play. 18.-Foul strokes are made in the following manner:-Lifting both free from the floor when striking; touching another ball in any manner [BILLIARDS whatever. The penalty is that the player cannot take a life.

If the striker, either in taking aim or in any manner whatever, except when in hand, touch his own ball, it is a foul stroke. If the striker pocket a ball by a foul stroke, the owner of that ball does not lose a life, but the ball remains in hand until it is his turn to play. 19.-If a ball or balls touch the striker's ball, or be in line between it and the ball he has to play on, so as to prevent him hitting any part of the object ball he wishes, it or they may be taken up until the stroke has been played; and after the balls have ceased running those taken up must be replaced, but a ball cannot be taken up in order to strike a ball from off a cushion, except in the case of Rule 22. 20. If the striker's ball touch the one he has to play on he may play where he pleases, and cannot give a miss; and he may take a life by pocketing any ball, but he cannot have a ball up. 21. If any ball or balls be in the way of a striker, or the striker's cue, so that he cannot play at his ball without a reasonable chance of making a foul, he can have them taken up. 22.-If the corner of the cushion prevent the striker from playing in a direct line at the object ball, he can have any ball removed for the purpose of playing at a cushion first, or he may have the ball moved out a few inches, but cannot then take a life. If, however, only two players be left in, the ball cannot be moved. 23. If the striker have a ball removed, and any other than the next player's ball stop on the spot it occupied, the ball removed must remain in hand till the one on its place be played, or lawfully moved, unless it should happen to be the turn of the one removed to play before the one on its place, in which case the latter ball must give place to the one originally taken up, after which it must be replaced. If two balls were taken up from the same place the one last taken up has to be replaced first. 24.-If the striker's ball shall come to rest on the position occupied by a ball which has been taken up, and there is no other ball to play at, he shall make a miss (not running a coup) to any part of the table he pleases, for which miss he does not lose a life. 25. If the striker have the next player's ball removed, and his ball stop on the place the other occupied, the next player must give a miss from the baulk to any part of the table he thinks proper, for which miss he does not lose a life. 26. If the striker's ball stop on the place from which a ball has been removed, the ball which has been removed must remain in hand until the spot is unoccupied, and it is the owner's turn to play, and then be replaced. 27.-If information be required by a player as to which is his ball, or when it is his turn to play, or which ball he ought to play on, or which ball is to follow his, he has a right to an answer from the Referee. Should he be misinformed he does not lose a life; the balls must be in this case replaced, and the stroke played again. 28. If the striker be misled as to which is his next player by a ball which is dead being wrongly marked on the board as still alive, or vice versâ, he does not lose a life. 29.-If the striker force another ball off the table, the owner of the ball does not lose a life, but the ball remains in hand until it is the owner's turn to play. 30. In pools of less than four players the game is continued until all the players but one have lost all their lives (including extra lives BILLIARDS] under the star). The surviving player takes the whole pool.

In pools of four or more players, when only two players are left in with an equal number of lives, they shall divide the pool. If they have an unequal number the game is continued until the number becomes equal, when they divide, or until one loses all his lives, when the survivor takes the whole pool. Provided in all cases that a striker who has taken a ball has the option of continuing his break. 31.-All disputes must be decided by the Referee, whose decision is final. In the absence of a Referee the marker shall act as such. 32.-The charge for the play is to be taken out of the pool before it is delivered up to the winners.

SNOOKER POOL. 1. The game of Snooker Pool may be played by two or more players, either as sides or independently. 2.-At the beginning of the game the balls are placed on the table as follows: - Fifteen red balls as for "Pyramids." Yellow on the right-hand spot of the D. Green on the left-hand spot of the D. Brown on the centre spot of the D.

Blue on the middle spot of the table. Pink at the apex of the triangle touching a red ball, and afterwards on the pyramid spot. Black on the billiard spot. The white ball is in hand. 3.-Points are scored as follows:-For pocketing a red ball, one point; the yellow, two points; the green, three points; the brown, four points; the blue, five points; the pink, six points; and the black, seven points. 4.-A player must first play on a red ball, and must then play on a coloured ball. After pocketing the coloured ball, he must play on another red, and the game is continued by pocketing red and coloured balls alternately until all the red balls are taken. When all the red balls are pocketed, the coloured balls must be played on in the order of their value, the lowest first, except that the player taking the last red ball has the right to play on any coloured ball he may select for his stroke, which coloured ball, if pocketed, is spotted. But, after this stroke, any coloured ball taking its turn is dead, and cannot be spotted. This rule holds good when a coloured ball and the cue ball are pocketed by the same stroke. A coloured ball so pocketed, provided it is pocketed in its proper order, remains in the pocket, and the striker is penalised according to its value. 5.-Red balls are never replaced on the table under any circumstances, but each coloured ball is replaced on its proper spot as soon as pocketed, until, owing to all the red balls having been pocketed, the coloured balls are pocketed finally in the order of their value. 6.-When a coloured ball has been pocketed and has to be spotted, the striker is responsible that this is done, either by himself or the marker.

Should he play a stroke without having the balls correctly placed on the table, such a stroke is foul, he cannot score, and the next player continues. If the proper spot on which a coloured ball should be placed is occupied, the ball shall be placed on the nearest unoccupied spot. In the case of the brown ball the right-hand spot of the D shall be considered the nearest spot, if unoccupied. If all the spots are occupied, the ball shall be placed as near its own spot as possible, in the direction of the top cushion. 7.-Any number of red balls may be pocketed and scored in one stroke, but if a red and coloured ball or balls are pocketed in the same stroke, the striker shall forfeit the value of the highest coloured ball so pocketed.

If the striker plays on one coloured ball and pockets one or more other balls he shall forfeit the value of the highest coloured ball pocketed.

If the cue ball strikes a coloured ball when the striker should play on a red ball, he shall forfeit the value of the coloured ball first struck.

If the cue ball strikes a.red ball when the striker should play on a coloured ball, he shall forfeit the value of the coloured ball played on; and, if "snookered," shall name the coloured ball he intends to hit. (A player is said to be "snookered" when no part of any ball that he is entitled to play on can be struck directly by the cue ball.) In such cases he shall forfeit the value of the ball nominated if he first strikes a red ball or a coloured ball of less value, or if such red or coloured ball be pocketed subsequent to the correct ball being first struck by the cue ball. But if he shall first strike, or pocket in any way, a coloured ball of greater value than the ball nominated, he shall forfeit the value of the ball so struck or pocketed. In all cases the striker must nominate what coloured ball he intends to play on, if requested by his opponent to do so.

In no case can a score be made by a stroke for which a penalty or forfeit is incurred, nor can the striker continue his break.

If more than one error be committed in the same stroke, the highest penalty only shall be exacted. 8. If the striker makes a miss when he is required to hit a red ball, he forfeits one point; if when he should hit a coloured ball, the value of the ball played at. 9. If the striker makes a miss or a foul stroke, or strikes a wrong ball, and by the same stroke "snookers" his opponent, the next player may have any ball or balls taken up to enable him to play direct on the nearest ball that is playable, and shall score any points that he makes. The balls so taken up to be replaced according to the rules of Pool. 10. If the cue ball is pocketed the striker shall forfeit the value of whatever ball was first struck by the cue ball, unless the value of that ball is less than the one aimed at. If a coloured ball of higher value than the ball first struck is pocketed by the same stroke he shall forfeit such higher value. 11. If a striker shall force a ball off the table he is penalised the value of that ball, and if the cue ball is forced off the table it shall be treated as if pocketed, and the striker penalised accordingly. When the cue ball is pocketed the next player continues from hand. 12. Baulk is no protection. or 13. If the cue ball is touching a red coloured ball when such red or coloured ball is playable, the striker cannot give a miss. a If the cue ball is touching a red or coloured ball when such red or coloured ball is not playable, the striker may play directly or off a cushion on a ball that is playable, provided he plays away from the touching ball and does not move it, and may score any points that he makes. 14. If the striker shall strike two balls, other than two reds, simultaneously, he shall forfeit the value of the highest ball so struck. 15.-When only the black ball is left on the table, should the striker make a miss or the cue ball go into a pocket the game is at an end. 16. All strokes or acts defined as "fouls" in the Rules of Billiards, as authorised by the Bil- Y liards Control Club, are "fouls" in this game, unless (as regards baulk being no restriction, for instance) a distinct stipulation to the contrary is included in these rules. No scores can be allowed if a "foul" stroke is made, or if the striker behaves in a manner which renders a stroke invalid at billiards. The penalty for a "foul" is that the striker cannot score, and is liable for such further penalties as are laid down in these rules.

INDIAN POOL. 1. The game of Indian Pool is played on a Billiard table by two or more players, either as sides or independently. It consists of winning hazards, losing hazards, and cannons. The length of the game is usually two hundred points. 2.-Five balls are employed, which are placed as follows:-Yellow ball on the right-hand spot of the D, Green ball on the left-hand spot of the D, Brown ball on the middle spot of the table, and Blue ball on the Billiard spot. The White ball is the cue ball.

The value of each coloured ball is:-Yellow three, Green five, Brown seven, and Blue nine points. 3. The order of play is determined by stringing or in any other way agreed upon. The player who leads off must play from baulk at the Blue ball. The next player plays from where the White ball is left, at any ball he pleases, unless the White ball shall have been pocketed or forced off the table, in which case he plays from baulk at any ball that is out of baulk. 4.-Each coloured ball must be pocketed in one of its own pockets, i.e., the Yellow ball or the Green ball in either of the baulk pockets, the Brown ball in either of the middle pockets, and the Blue ball in either of the top pockets. If any ball is pocketed in a wrong pocket the striker loses the value of that ball.

If a coloured ball is pocketed in one of its own pockets the striker scores its value, although he may have struck another ball first, provided he has not incurred a penalty by the same stroke.

A cannon made by the White ball striking two or more coloured balls counts two points to the striker; the White ball going in to a pocket after striking one or more coloured balls counts the value of the coloured ball first struck, provided it goes into one of the pockets belonging to that ball, but if into any of the other pockets the striker loses the value of that ball.

The striker may score all the points that he makes by any stroke.

If two coloured balls are struck simultaneously and the White ball enters a pocket the coloured ball of the lowest value shall be deemed to have been struck first. 5. If a coloured ball has been pocketed or forced off the table, or taken up under Rule II, it shall be placed on the spot to which it belongs, and if that spot is occupied by another ball it shall be placed on the nearest unoccupied spot. If all four spots are occupied it shall be placed on the Pyramid spot.

Only three consecutive winning hazards from the middle or Billiard spots are allowed, the ball being then placed on the Pyramid spot.

If all the spots are occupied, with the exception of the baulk spots, the left hand spot shall be deemed the nearer unoccupied spot. 6.-Baulk is a protection, i.e., if the White ball is in hand the next player cannot play at any ball that is in baulk or on the baulk line. 7:-If a player gives a miss, or forces the [BILLIARDS a White ball off the table without striking coloured ball, he loses three points.

If he forces the White ball off the table or into a wrong pocket after striking one or more coloured balls he loses the value of the ball first struck.

If the White ball goes into a pocket without striking a coloured ball he loses the value of that pocket, i.e., either top pocket nine points, either middle pocket seven points, the left-hand baulk pocket five points, and the right-hand baulk pocket three points.

If he forces a coloured ball off the table or into a wrong pocket he loses the value of that ball.

In all cases where a player is penalised by losing points they shall be added to his opponent's score. The penalty for a "foul" stroke is that the striker does not score, and the next player follows on. 8.-If more than one penalty has been incurred by the same stroke the highest penalty only can be enforced.

A player cannot score for any stroke by which a penalty is incurred, nor can he continue his break. 9.-All strokes or acts defined as "foul" in the rules of Billiards, as authorised by the Billiards Control Club, are "foul" in the game of Indian Pool. 10. If the White ball is left touching a coloured ball the coloured ball is spotted, and the striker plays from baulk. 11. If a coloured ball stops near a pocket other than a pocket to which it belongs, in such a position that any part of its surface is within one inch of the fall of the slate, it shall be taken up and placed on its proper spot. 12. All disputes shall be decided by the Referee (or Marker), whose decision is final.

PYRAMIDS. 1. The game of Pyramids is played with sixteen balls, viz., fifteen coloured (usually Red) and one White, and between two players or sides.

Cues and rests of any description may be used. 2. The coloured balls are placed on the table in the form of a triangle, the ball at the apex standing on the spot known as the pyramid spot.

The base is placed parallel with and nearest to the top cushion. 3.-When points are given by one player to another they are at once scored, a corresponding number of balls being removed from the pyramid in the following manner, viz. :- If one point be given, the ball is taken from the apex.

If two points, then from the corners of the base.

If three points, one from each corner of the triangle.

If more than three points, the extra balls beyond three are taken from the base.

A player can be handicapped by owing points to his adversary, but instead of taking the balls off, a number corresponding to the points owed are replaced on the table as provided in Rule 7 as soon as each one is pocketed by the conceder of points. دو 4. The order of play, unless otherwise agreed upon by the players, is determined by "stringing as at Billiards. The winner of the "string" may play, or direct his opponent to do so, the player who leads off playing from the D. The next player plays from where the White ball stops, unless it has been pocketed or forced off the BILLIARDS] table; in such case he plays from the D at any ball he chooses. After a miss the next player plays from where the White ball stopped. 5.-Baulk is no protection. 6.-Each coloured ball lawfully pocketed counts one to the striker, who continues to play till he fails to score, and he who finally scores the greater number wins the game. When the game is ended, if a player still owes a ball or balls they shall be added to the score of his opponent. 7.-If either player gives a miss, pockets the White ball, forces any ball off the table, or touches any ball before it has ceased rolling, he loses one -that is to say, a point is taken from his score, and he must place one of the coloured balls which he has pocketed on the pyramid spot; if that is occupied, the ball must be placed as near as possible behind the pyramid spot, together with any coloured ball forced off the table or unlawfully pocketed, and the opponent follows on. If he has not scored he is said to owe one, and must pay it when he is able that is to say, the first ball he pockets must be replaced on the table. 8. If the White ball is pocketed or forced off the table, one is deducted from the striker's score, and the next player is in hand, and plays from the D. 9.-Foul strokes are made as follows:- Playing before all the balls are at rest.

Playing before a ball is replaced on the table when required by the rules.

Playing with both feet off the ground.

Touching or moving in any way the White or any coloured ball, or in taking aim, or before all the balls have ceased rolling.

By touching the ball more than once in one stroke, or after it has come in contact with another ball. The push stroke is prohibited by this clause. 10. The penalty for making a foul is that any score made by such stroke does not count, and the opponent follows on; and should any Red ball or balls have been pocketed by the stroke, they must be replaced on the table according to Rule 7.

II.-Notwithstanding that the White ball touches a coloured one, the striker may score all the coloured balls he pockets, or he may play for safety; but if he touches the White ball in any way after it has struck a ball, the stroke is foul, as in Rule 10. When the White ball touches another ball the striker cannot give a miss. 12. When all the coloured balls but one are pocketed, the player who made the last score continues to play with the White, and the opponent uses the coloured ball. When these two balls are left on the table, should the striker pocket the ball he is playing with, make a miss, or force it off the table, the game is finished, the opponent adding one to his score. Should, however, the striker make a foul stroke and also pocket his opponent's ball, the stroke does not count, and the opponent plays from the D at the striker's ball, wherever it has been left on the table. 13.-No player is allowed to receive, nor any bystander to offer, advice on the game, but should any person in the case of dispute be appealed to by both players, he has a right to offer an opinion; or if a spectator sees a game wrongly marked he may state the fact, but he must do so prior to another stroke being made. 14.-For refusing to continue the game when called upon by the Referee to do so, or for conduct which, in the opinion of the Referee or Marker, is wilfully or persistently unfair, a player shall lose the game, and Red balls remaining on the table shall be added to the opponent's score. 15.-All disputes must be decided by the Referee, whose decision is final. In the absence of a referee the Marker shall act as such. 66 Bibliography. - The Compleat Gamester, Ch.

Cotton, Ist edition, 1674 (J. Wilford), 5th edition, pp. 149-161, 1725; A Practical Treatise on the Game of Billards, E. White, Ist ed. (W. Miller), 1807, new ed. (London), 1818; The Billiard Book, Captain Crawley" and Wm. Cook (Ward.

Lock and Co.), 1877; Scientific Billiards, A.

Garnier (Appleton, N.Y.), 1880; Billiards, Wm.

Cook, edited by A. G. Payne (Burroughes and Watts), 1884; Pyramids and Pool, J. P. Buchanan, Oval Series (Routledge), 1896; Billiards, J.

Bennett (De la Rue), 1899; Side and Screw, C. D. Locock (Longmans), 1901; Hints on Billiards, J. P. Buchanan (Bell), 1902; The Reminiscences of a Professional Billiard Player, Wm. Mitchell (Treherne), 1902; Cue Tips, Wm.

Mitchell (Everett), 1903; Practical Billards, C.

Dawson (Author, Hook Road, Surbiton), 1904; Billiards Mathematically Treated, G. W. Hemming (Macmillan), 1904; The Whole Art of Billiards, F. M. Hotine (Sands), 1906; Billiards for Everybody, Ch. Roberts, "Vivid" d" (Routledge), 1908; How to Make a Hundred Break-Billiards Made Easy, J. Roberts (Simpkin, Marshall), 1909; The Billiard Annual, edited by W. H. Robbins (Simpkin, Marshall), in progress; The Billiard Year- Book, edited by H. S. Oakley and W. W. Ruttle (Black), 1910.

THE GAME OF FRENCH BILLIARDS.-It may come as a surprise to many, only knowing the French style of billiards, or carombolage, as played on pocketless tables with balls of large dimensions and ponderous cues, to learn that this is, comparatively, a recent innovation. In its earlier phases the game of French billiards was identical with the English or six-pocket table of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century.

As a matter of fact, a Frenchman, one Capitaine Mingaud, an officer in Napoleon's Grande Armée, gave the play its first recognised principles by the successful experiments he made upon a six-pocket table. However, with the majority of the French players becoming ardent students of the strict-cannon class of stroke, and being, moreover, convinced of its forming the basis of all the best that the game of billiards holds, it was resolved, almost with one accord, to put a veto on the pockets, and straightway the plain cannon table was evolved and spread all over the Continent, and, incidentally, America. Onehalf of the world plays this French cannon game, leaving the other half, as comprised by the British and subject races in Australasia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Great Britain, to the so-called English or compromise cannon and pocket game.

The strict-cannon table, if of less scope than our players are accustomed to, the usual size being 9 ft. by 4 ft., and the championship table 10 ft. by 5 ft., still holds Y 2 its problems. Its chief experts, wedded to the task of scoring as great a series of cannon shots as their abilities will permit. have not mastered all the possibilities. But whereas the English pocket table has barely 3 [BILLIARDS Gradually, the system of cannons, carrying the balls around the table by the cushions with the cue-ball, delicately struck shot by shot, steering the two objects, held in all but complete subjection, ahead of it, began to be very clearly appreciated. The technique of the play and the recurring positions and their manifold variations, began to be grasped by the foremost exponents. Where fifty successive cannons had once been regarded as an unparalleled achievement, the runs surely assumed greater proportions.

They grew year after year by the hundred, until at length so nearly had the human machines arrived at a stage of perfection that, by common consent, it was acknow- 2 1 1. THE OLD FASHIONED FOUR-BALL GAME. 2. THE POSITION OF THE RAIL-NURSE. 3. THE ENSUING POSITION, SHOWING THE IN-AND-OUT MOTION OF THE CUE-BALL. 28in. Baulk Line. had cause for the legislative hand to tamper with its divisions and markings, the French cannon table has suffered many changes during its eighty or ninety years' existence.

These changes have, however, been of quite recent date. The cause was the extraordinary proficiency to which the French and American professionals attained once the secret of the plain runs of close-cannons, known by the name of caroms, was disclosed as the outcome of unceasing and earnest attention by the great players, and foremost among them all Maurice Vignaux, the French maître de billards. 28 in. Baulk Line.

A DESIGN TO DRIVE PLAY TO THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE.

ONE CANNON IS ALLOWED IN EACH SECTION. ledged that the secret of the cannon-table was out and given forth to the world at large. Cannons were at a discount, and it was apparent a method of retarding, if not of actually negativing, the "straight-rail" or BILLIARDS] as cannons along the cushions would have to be devised to prevent the strict-cannon table from suffering from a surfeit such threatened its compeer, the English pocket table, at the unexpected appearance of the celebrated cradle-cannon shot a few years back. shot a First of all, the four corners of the board were lined off so that only one cannon could be scored within the prescribed bounds. Then, as the "straight-rail" play was not seriously interfered with, a further limitation, that of allowing only one objectball within the compartment and for but a single stroke, was next resorted to. But, after a time, the ingenuity of the players was such as to enable them to avoid these scribed as a champion's box" or triangular-shaped lines drawn at the centres of the four cushions marked the next step in the attempt to curtail the still increasing number and ease of the cannons. For a A 6-INCH. BAULK-LINE, WHEREIN TWO SUCCESSIVE CANNONS ARE ILLEGAL. partitions entirely. By dexterous manipulation, the balls were turned around and past the corners, and the series of cannons resumed with the utmost facility along the straight sides and ends. What was de- EXAMPLES OF THE LONG AND SHORT MOVEMENTS AT THREE- CUSHION CANNONS. few months these did act as impediments.

But the resource of the French billiard artists was not long in showing them a way round, and the desired object was no nearer being achieved than at any time before.

At length, after many consultations between the French and American billiard leaders, the principle of baulk-lines drawn all round the table was inaugurated. It proved to be the salvation of the strict-cannon game, and to provide a form of play which was at once attractive yet bristling with difficulties. In its initial stages the two things seemed less likely to fit in with one another.

But experience proved that these baulk-lines could open up a new and most diverting set of propositions to the most skilful cueists.

At its inception the baulk-line was set six inches away from the cushions. But the genius of Vignaux and Slosson overcame the obstacles thus placed in their path, and the toll of cannons, for a period reduced to the desired grade, again began to realise unexpected proportions. The idea of the 1 6 85 3 FAMOUS BAULK-LINE POSITIONS. 1. The "anchor" nurse. 2. The intersecting line nurse. 3. Wide nurse. 4. دو 2 4 10 "Chuck nurse out of anchor and out of baulk. 5. À Cheval. 6. "Line" merac. baulk-line was to prohibit two successive cannons being scored inside the line. This ruling made a very revolutionary movement in the play. The question was how to devise a reliable method of maintaining a hold over the balls for a more or less simple series of shots. It was not readily answered. Day by day, though, a theory was being established and proven sound in [BILLIARDS practice. This took the form of giving the first-played object-ball more movement than it had before received in the process of a run of cannons. The cue-ball was so tended as to leave little life in it when cannoning upon the second object-ball, so that these two balls practically awaited the return of the first-played object-ball from the cushion. Once the theory was fully analysed and approved, the rest became comparatively simple to the master execиtants. The extra distance that they were called upon to operate from the real base -the cushion-line-did not present great difficulties, and soon the cry went up that the chief professionals were again scoring too fast and too long. So it came about that the baulk-lines were extended, first to nine inches, to twelve inches, to fifteen inches, to eighteen inches, and then to twenty inches, without the best billiard hands being seriously incommoded by these recurring and increasing shapings.

In billiards, legislation has always been set to the demands of the most expert, no matter the backwardness of the general run of amateurs and the proof of existing conditions being sufficiently formidable for their inferior capacity. It is so in England, which leads the way in the English game, and it was so in France when the unrestricted cannon play was so carefully guarded against in the matter of the baulklines. Thus, no little wisdom was shown by the councillors (mainly Americans, by the way), who, at the various meetings, attended to the revision and amendment of the French billiards code of rules, in mapping out what is to all intents and purposes a set of distinct games. There is (I) the plain-cannon game set with no restrictions whatsoever; (2) the corners lined off and the push-stroke barred; (3) the baulk-line game, varying, according to the fancy of the players, from six to twenty inches, each and all separate and distinct. The most popular of the set is still the first or quite primitive form, with the advancing steps keeping pace with the quality of the players' requirements. If the golden age of French billiards has passed, there are yet upwards of 90,000 of the pocketless tables, which are its medium, subject to the annual taxation imposed by the French Government upon their owners and lessees. Every café worthy the name finds room for the oblong board of varying size between 8 and IO feet in length and proportionate width.

French billiards, or the jeu de carambolage, to give it its proper title, was formerly a four-ball game. This had but a fleeting career, however. The universal BILLIARDS] three-ball game was soon adopted, and quickly found popular favour. The size and weight of the balls, which are, usually, 24 to 23 inches in diameter, need equivalent driving power in the shape of the cues.

These are anything from 18 to 24 oz. in weight, and are made from the toughest and most elastic of woods. The cloth is much more strongly "napped" and heavier than that used on the bigger English tables, and the best specimens are manufactured in Belgium. Neither the cloth nor the cushions have the same keenness as our own-a fact to be attributed to the added impetus of the heavier and larger balls, whose movements need to be kept under restraint, while at the same time permitting every variety of stroke to be rendered possible and reasonable freedom of running. a To commence every type of game of billiards known to the French table, the red ball is placed upon a spot at the head of the table, and the two whites occupy parallel positions at standard points marked within the lower half. The opening stroke must be played from the red ball. One may play safety, but there is little latitude for defensive shots, and the better policy is to go out for a cannon, unless some very exceptional position is met with, leaving the run of the balls to their own tender mercies. The whole aim of the player is to gather the three balls together and retain them under control in a greater or lesser chain of cannons. To the expert operators the "rail-nurse" or runs of cannons driving the balls along by the cushions, as is to be seen on English tables, is little more than child's play. Their deft treatment of the balls and their mastery over the curling massé strokes must be seen to be fully appreciated. It is true that the baulk-lines, in increasing proportion to the distances these are marked from the face of the. cushions, impose a very much more difficult question, and reduce break-making to more modest limits than the infinite possibilities afforded by an unrestricted board. Withal, the secrets once tenaciously held by the pocketless have been remorselessly laid bare by its most profound students. Not even the super-imposed difficulty of having to play from the further object-ball or from a cushion when the cue-ball lies touching an object-ball has checked the heavy scoring of the more skilful among the army of French billiardists, whose attainments have urged them to indulge in higher flights of skill. As an off-shoot of billiards proper, the threecushion-cannon game, or caroms-à-troisbancs, has enjoyed a tremendous vogue both on the Continent and in America. The cueball has to strike three or more cushions before it can legitimately cannon upon the second object-ball, and it is immaterial whether the cushions are struck before or subsequent to the understood contact with the first object-ball. This attractive game brings out the merit of the pocketless THE TABLE CORNERED OFF AND SET WITH BOXES AT THE CENTRES OF THE CUSHIONS TO LIMIT THE RUNS OF CANNONS. game in the most pronounced fashion imaginable, the truly remarkable and endless variations it permits of providing an attractiveness which has proved irresistible to the carambolage enthusiasts.

Attempts have been made to shape a compromise table which shall, while building a half-way house between the French and English styles of billiards, leave untouched the salient features of either. So far, however, they have not been attended with success. The most frequently tried was the playing of a strict-cannon game upon a sixpocket table with large-sized balls, and the " jawing" or "jamming" of the balls in the mouth of the pockets debarred. Then a hybrid table with small pockets and 24-inch balls proved the battle-ground of the two most notable exponents of the pocket and cannon games of their day, John Roberts and Frank Ives, respectively, but the unchecked cannon outweighed the scoring from the hazards. The cannon player steered the big balls to the mouth of the small pocket openings, and cannoned away to his heart's content. And the ideal in the way of a compromise has yet to be found. French billiard tables will doubtless in the years to come gain a new lease of life by reverting to their former pocket receptacles, but for the time being they still most rigidly adhere to the cannons.

AMERICAN POOL. Of all the sidelights known to the American billiard table, which, like the French, is merely furnished with pockets as a means towards this end, none have met with such exceptional favour as the game of fifteen-ball pool, or, as it is more generally known, American pool. There is a certain similarity existing between the old-fashioned English game of pyramids and the more recent adaptation styled Snooker's pool with this fifteen-ball pool, which, as its name would lead one to suppose, is played with fifteen balls. These balls are numbered from one to fifteen. They are placed upon the table in the shape of a triangle, as in pyramids. A deep-red ball, which carries the highest number-fifteen is set on the pyramid spot, and it forms the apex of the triangle pointing towards the baulk end of the table. The object of each competitor is to pocket as many balls as his skill will enable him to do, the amount of his scoring being dependent upon the numbers carried by the balls he has pocketed, and the player who scores the largest aggregate is declared the winner. In this respect the play decidedly favours Snooker's pool in its vicissitudes and in the element of chance which may enter into a contest between two well-matched opponents, whereby a much inferior cueman may defeat an infinitely superior player. A white ball is used as the cue-ball, and the players use it in their turn from the position it may be left upon the table, or from baulk if it happens to be "in hand." The one rule at variance with all classes of pool games played upon the English type of table is the strict ban set against playing on a poolball behind baulk when the player is "in hand." [BILLIARDS In the past, many well-known English professionals have visited the United States and crossed cues with the cream of the talent there at American pool. Usually, however, Britishers have come off second best. The chief requirement for the game is accurate hazard-striking and a very keen eye for the whereabouts of the most valuable balls that is to say, those set with double figures. It is obvious that the lowerscoring ones, say from one to five, are only intended to be utilised for the purpose of getting the cue-ball well placed for a shot at the big figures, just as in Snooker's pool.

A greater latitude is extended to those who take part in American pool than any English game allows. For example, the push-shot" now declared illegal in every type of English billiards is not barred in American pool; a player may make use of the butt-end of the cue to take a stroke with, a procedure long ruled out of the English game; and although the cue-ball may be touching one of the pool-balls, such a position does not invalidate a stroke in any respect. 66 Subjoined are the rules of the ordinary game of American pool, which are amended and revised in greater or lesser form in what is termed the championship code, expressly framed for the highest class of professional expert. They present the different phases of the play in very clear fashion.

RULES OF THE GAME OF AMERICAN POOL.

I. The order of playing may be settled by throwing out small numbered balls from a pool basket. The player plays from behind the string, the starting point for the white balls, as in the ordinary game of French or American billiards, and he may miss if he likes; but the miss, and all misses, score 3 points against the giver. The remaining players follow the first striker in their given order. 2. The player may use either the butt-end of the cue or the tip-end. 3. The player may jani his own ball against the others while the cue-tip is still in contact with his own ball and while the latter strikes an object-ball. 4. As the figures on the fifteen-pool balls amount to 120, of which 61 is more than half, whoever may make the latter number first is the winner, and may claim the game. 5. Three points are deducted from a player's score for making a miss or a losing hazard, or forcing his own ball off the table. If the player pockets one or more of the object-balls and his own ball at the same time, he cannot score for the numbered balls, which must be placed on the spot or in a line behind it if the spot be occupied, and he forfeits three points for his losing hazard. 6. The proper pocketing of a pool-ball still counts to the player even when the cue-ball and object-ball or balls are touching one another.

BIRD'S NESTING] 7. When the cue-ball is "in hand," the player may play from any place within the string (or baulk-line) at any object-ball outside it. Should none of the object-balls be outside the line, he may spot that which is nearest to the line upon the spot which the highest numbered ball occupies at the start of the game-namely, the pyramidspot-and play on to that ball from "hand." 8. Should there be a tie between two or more of the highest players, its decision may be deferred to the succeeding game, and whoever counts highest in that shall be declared the victor in the tie-game, totally independent of the match that is then proceeding. A player might thus win an undecided game at fifteen-ball pool as the result of scoring but one point in the succeeding game should his opponent fail to score. Should a tie again occur in the second game, it may be referred to a third trial. 9. Should the striker while taking aim or while engaged in the preliminaries of a stroke or upon the actual stroke, disturb any ball on the table, the stroke is foul. If it be the cue-ball that is disturbed, the player will be considered to have played his stroke, and he forfeits 3 points if the cue-ball does not strike a pool-ball. If the ball disturbed is an object- or pool-ball, he may play for safety, but cannot score. Should any ball be disturbed after the stroke is played that is to say, after the cue-ball has left the cue-it is a foul; but the player will be allowed to score what points he may have gained on the stroke, and he can only play for safety with his succeeding stroke. Should any of the balls on the table be accidentally disturbed by any other person than the player, they should be replaced, as nearly as can be gauged, in their previous positions, and the game is continued in its proper order. 10. Should a player play out of his turn when not called upon to do so, this act is foul, and, no matter the number of strokes the offender may have taken, the balls should be reset in their original positions, and all the offender's points gained during his out-of-turn play shall be forfeited. On the other hand, if a player be called upon to play, and he makes more than one stroke before being checked, even if it should be out of his proper turn, the strokes so made are fair, and he is entitled to any score he may have made by such strokes.

II. The losers of the game are the player or partnering players who have the lowest score; and it is possible, by reason of different forfeitures, for a score to be half-a-dozen or even a dozen less than nothing.

BIRD'S NESTING. - This favourite hobby of boys, and to a lesser extent of their elders, has, on account of much real, and some imaginary, cruelty, been condemned on all sides. While considering it desirable to give some few hints on the subject of successful collecting, it is not proposed to go into the details of individual nests. The scientific interest in the pattern of eggs lies in their "protective" colouring; and at a very early stage of his rambles the collector will not fail to observe this, more especially in connection with those laid on the ground. Nor will it escape his notice that all eggs laid within hollow trees, and similar situations in which protective colouring would be of no use, are pure white, or at most faintly marked with pale red.

Apparatus. This may be of the simplest, comprising a small tin box of cotton wool (a nest of three boxes is economy of space and is recommended for whole-day excursions), a forked stick, an egg-drill, which can be purchased at natural-history stores -history for threepence, and a blower, easily made over a gas-jet from a penny piece of fine glass-tubing. With this unpretentious equipment, added to twelve feet of knotted rope and a small bottle of clean water, the writer collected over three hundred British eggs, most within five miles of his door.

Not but that the paraphernalia can be multiplied so as to suit the longest pocket and most extravagant tastes; and there are writers on the subject who freely advocate the use of expensive climbing-spurs, fieldglasses with which to survey distant nests, and mirrors to reveal the contents of nests hidden in hollow trunks. That these are adjuncts to comfort few will deny; but it is at any rate doubtful whether this elaborately equipped collector derives half the pleasure experienced from a more rough and ready mode of procedure.

Binoculars, indeed, may be discarded, for they merely encourage laziness, while, as climbing-spurs often bring disaster to the climber and ruin to the tree, they may also be rejected in favour of a stout rope.

Method of Collecting. -A keen eye and soft tread, unflagging patience and a steady hand are the qualifications of a successful collector. Given these, the rest is a matter of practice. Some slight knowledge of sites affected by the various bird-families, a sense of discrimination between the denizens of tree, hedge, and ground, with some idea of the different breeding-seasons-these are the groundwork of the practical experience gained later.

A regular system should be followed at the outset. The best method is to map out a fixed area for each day's operations, and thoroughly search it each morning or evening.

To take an example: at Bexley, where the writer obtained the bulk of his collection, each day in the week was devoted to a particular ground, the chief being the north and south portions of Dartford Heath, Baldwin's Park, the dense shrubberies bordering the Cray Valley, some wild ground near Sidcup, and a thick wood, now fenced in, on Cold Blow. The intervening fields were much built in by larks and pipits.

Blowing. Each egg should be blown when taken, the only exception being an occasional "hard-set" specimen of sufficient value to take home and empty at leisure with forceps and fine crochet-hooks.

For the soft eggs, one hole only is necessary, and it should be drilled in the middle of the egg, not at either end. The shell is first carefully pierced with a clean needle, then the arrow-head of the drill is inserted and a rotary motion imparted so as to make the hole perfectly circular and clear its edge of the inner membrane. Next, stir up the yolk and white with the needle, being careful not to enlarge the hole further.

The pointed end of the blowpipe is then rested lightly in the aperture, and, on blowing gently, the mixed contents soon escape. When the shell is nearly empty, a little clean water is injected with the aid of the blowpipe, and the egg is turned in every direction in such a manner that the water reaches every point in its interior.

Poisoning. The egg is then relegated to the wool-lined box, and, immediately on reaching home, the collector should inject a few drops of solution of corrosive sublimate. A separate blowpipe should be used for this, and a very convenient form will be found in the pen-fillers (fitting in a glass bottle) supplied with stylographic pens. Sucking a short tube, the other end of which lies in corrosive sublimate, is not recommended. The final stage is the drying of the egg, hole downwards, on a clean sheet of white blotting-paper.

Varnishing and Waxing.--Two further processes are advocated by many writers ere the egg finally rests in the cabinet.

These are varnishing and waxing.

The first-named, imparting as it does a polish that is not, save in certain eggs, found in nature, is not desirable. One might as well decorate the white eggs with fancy patterns!

Waxing is more legitimate, since it counteracts to some extent the rapid fading of the exquisite transparent tints. It is not by any means a complicated process, consisting in the introduction of a little suitably tinted melting wax, the egg being revolved so that it shall dry in a coating of uniform thickness over the interior.

Stocking. When not being inspected, all eggs should be kept from the light, which soon attacks their delicate colouring. The most pleasing way of stocking them is a matter of individual taste. Some prefer spending considerable sums in elaborate cabinets of many drawers with glass lids, simply resting the eggs on cottonwool.

Others paste them, hole downwards, on cardboard. In any case certain particulars [BIRD'S NESTING should be recorded on a label corresponding with each egg (not gummed on the egg itself), such as species, date and locality of collection, position of nest, &c.

Should a complete clutch of eggs be deemed necessary, it is best, with the birds at all events (the starlings, hawks, crows, &c.) that mate for life, to remove one egg at a time and allow the hen to lay twice the usual number. In national collections, where things are done on a large scale, the whole nest is taken and preserved along with the full complement. For scientific purposes this wholesale robbery of our woodlands may be perfectly legitimate; for private collectors, however, having no other purpose to serve than to acquire a representative collection, with the accompaniment of much pleasant outdoor rambling. it should be tabooed.

It is this very tampering with the nest that has cost the birds so much time and labour and skill that has brought bird's nesting into such disrepute. F. G. AFLALO.

Bibliography.---A Natural History of the Nests and Eggs of British Birds, Rev. F. O. Morris (Nimmo), 1896; The Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880-1896, J. R. V. Marchant and W.

Watkins (Porter), 1897; British Birds' Nests:

How, When, and Where to Identify Them, R.

Kearton (Cassell), 1897; Among British Birds in their Nesting-Haunts, O. A. J. Lee (Douglas), 1897; An Illustrated Manual of British Birds, Howard Saunders (Gurney and Jackson), 1899; The Story of the Birds: Being an Introduction to the Study of Ornithology, C. Dixon (Allen), 1900; Our Rarer Breeding Birds: Their Nests, Eggs, and Summer Haunts, R. Kearton (Cassell), 1900; The Birds of the British Isles, C. Stonham (Grant Richards), 1906; Bird Life of the Borders on Moorland and Sea, A. Chapman (Gurney and Jackson), 1907; Bird Life in Wild Wales, J. A.

Walpole-Bond (Fisher Unwin), 1903; Ootheca Wolleyana, edited by Alfred Newton (Porter), 1902; A Dictionary of Birds, A. Newton (Black), 1897; Eggs of the Birds of Europe, H. E. Dresser (Dresser), 1905; My Life among the Wild Birds of Spain, Colonel W. Verner (Bale), 1909; Game, Shore, and Water Birds of India, Colonel A. le Mesurier (Thacker), 1904; The Birds of Africa, Colonel C. E. Shelley (Porter), 1896; The Birds of South Africa, A. C. Stark, continued by W. L.

Sclater (Porter), 1901; The Birds of Tunisia, J. T. S. Whittaker (Porter), 1906; Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, O. Davie (Hann and Adair), 1889; Birds of North and_Middle America, R. Ridgway (Government Printing Press, Washington), 1901; Nests and Eggs of the Australian Birds, A. J. Campbell (Edwards), 1901; Nests and Eggs of Birds found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania, A. J. North (Australian Museum, Sydney), 1907.

BISON (Bos americanus). — The American Bison, like its European congener, is on the verge of extinction, and as a beast of the chase it has already practically vanished, though a dwindling rem- BISON] nant of the northern form may still occasionally yield a trophy to the sportsman hardy enough to brave the wintry desolation of Athabaska. A very few head are left in the Yellowstone National Park, but are being killed out by poachers. There are several small tame herds here and there; and there are one or two spots in the Rocky Mountains, and possibly one on the Mexican border, where two or three individuals still linger in a wild state. These are all. were very accurate long-range weapons, and as the buffalo (as the bison were always miscalled) were slow and stupid animals, a good marksman and skilful hunter could often slaughter twenty or thirty at "stand," as it was termed. a I never came in contact with buffalo myself until at the very end of its existence as a species, and shot only two, one an unusually large solitary bull on the Little Missouri in 1883, and the other a very fine Baldwell 1896 BISON.

Height at shoulder, 5 ft. 6 in.; av. horn meas. 16½ in.; max. horn. meas. 20 in. Yet, in the late seventies and early eighties of last century this was the characteristic animal of the plains, and still swarmed in the Upper Missouri Basin. It was hunted in two ways: by running it down on horseback, in which form of chase the heavy revolver was the weapon usually preferred, and by still-hunting, or stalking, on foot. The last was the method by which the great slaughter of the herds was accomplished. The hunters used long-range rifles, Sharps being probably the favourite weapon. These rifles were usually of .40 45 calibre, with a long heavy bullet, backed by about 100 grains of powder; they or herd bull in South-western Montana in 1889. The first I stumbled across, and slew out of hand, with one of the ordinary buffalo rifles. The second was procured only after very careful tracking through a mountain forest, and was killed with a single bullet from my Winchester.

My brother was in at the death of the southern buffalo herds early in 1877 in North-western Texas. He had full experience of both kinds of chase. Running buffalo on horseback was by far the most exciting method of killing them. The secret of success consisted in racing at full speed from the very outset, since the buffalo, though not very fleet, possessed marvellous endurance, and in riding up almost within arm's length of the brute before firing. It is a very difficult thing to shoot with any accuracy from a horse running at full speed, and especially at another object going at a somewhat different rate of speed. If the shots are fired from any distance, they are apt to miss or only wound. The true method was to push right alongside and fire with the muzzle of the weapon but a couple of feet from the animal's back. It was important that the horse should be trained to sheer off as soon as the shot was fired, as the buffalo sometimes turned and charged with great fury. On a well-trained hunting-pony there was little danger, for the buffalo had neither the pace nor agility of the horse. An untrained horse, however, was generally afraid to come to close quarters, and, moreover, turned clumsily. I know of one in stance where riding a large untrained Eastern horse caused a hunter to lose his life, the buffalo making good his charge and inflicting_fatal injuries on both horse and rider. Even in this branch of the sport, however, accidents to life and limb from the quarry were not common, though there was no little risk from the falls naturally incident to riding at full speed over rough and broken country. It was splendid sport, full of excitement, and it is melancholy to think that it is gone for ever. a Still-hunting the buffalo did not differ materially from still-hunting any other kind of game, except that it was rather easier when once the haunts of the bison were reached. Most game animals are adepts at concealing themselves, but the buffalo never sought concealment, and its huge black body could be seen against the yellow prairie as far as the eye could reach; its sense of smell was very acute, but its eyesight was poor, and so stalking was easy. Occasionally the beast charged, but against heavy rifles in skilful hands his prowess availed nothing, and the danger was so inconsiderable that with anything like proper caution it could be disregarded.

Pursuit by sportsmen had practically nothing to do with the extermination of the bison. It was killed by the hide hunters, red, white, and half-breed. The railways, as they were built, hastened its destruction, for they gave means for transporting the heavy robes to market; but it would have been killed out anyhow, even were there no railroads in existence, and, once the demand for the robe became known to the Indians, they were certain to exterminate [BISON it in time, even had the white hunter refrained. Not even in South Africa has there been an instance where so many large game beasts of one species have been slain within so short a time. Originally the bison ranged between the Rocky Mountains and the Alleghanies and from Mexico to the Peace River; but its centre of abundance was the vast stretch of grass land reaching from the Saskatchewan to the Rio Grande.

All the earlier explorers who crossed these great plains, from Lewis and Clark and Pike onward, dwelt upon the astounding multitudes of the bison, who furnished the entire means of subsistence for the tribes of Horse Indians. The herds were pressed steadily back, but the period of greatest slaughter did not begin until after the Civil War; then the commercial value of the robes became fully recognised, and the Trans-Continental Railways rendered the hunting-grounds more accessible. The slaughter was almost incredible, for the buffalo were slain literally by millions every year. They were exterminated first from Canada and from the Southern plains; it was not until 1883 that the last herd was killed from the Great North-western plains; and when the fierce greed of the skin hunter and skin. buyer had exterminated the last of these great herds, there passed away what was perhaps the most imposing feature of American wilderness life.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

BISON AND BUFFALO. - Bison and Buffalo form two very distinct groups of the great Ox tribe, so different from the more typical oxen that by many writers they are severally assigned to two separate genera-Bison and Bubalus. All the members of the group are, however, so intimately connected that it seems preferable to include them in the typical genus Bos.

Both the English names have, unfortunately, been applied to animals to which they do not belong, the American Bison in its native country being almost invariably termed the Buffalo, whereas by Anglo- Indian sportsmen the Indian Gaur is as generally spoken of as the Bison. Properly speaking, Bison include only the European and American Bison, whereas under the title of Buffalo are comprised the Indian Buffalo, the Cape Buffalo, and the Short-horned West African Buffalo, together with a small form from the Philippines, which is not improbably nothing more than a hybrid between the Indian species and a small buffalo-like animal inhabiting the island of Celebes, known as the Tamarao.

BISON AND BUFFALO] The two species of Bison have their nearest relative in the Tibetan Yak (Bos grunniens), which serves in some respects to connect them with the more typical oxen.

An essential feature by which the Bison are allied to the Yak and the typical oxen is the possession of fourteen or fifteen pairs of ribs. Their horns, too-although smaller -have the cylindrical form of those of the Yak; but in the setting-on of these appendages Bison differ markedly from the latter. Not to enter into details on this point, it will suffice to state that Bison have their horns set lower down on the skull, while the skull itself-in addition to certain other The European, or True Bison (Bos bonasus) - frequently miscalled the Aurochs-appears to have been on the wane ever since the glacial period, soon after which it disappeared from the British Islands. As a wild animal, its range has been gradually contracting on the Continent, and now, apparently, it remains only in certain parts of the Caucasus-where it appears to be rare-and in a protected condition in the forest of Bielowitza, in the Government of Grono-the ancient Lithuania. There are, indeed, reports of its survival in parts of Wallachia and Moldavia, but these it is difficult to verify. A [Copyright by Underwood and Underwood.

A HERD OF AMERICAN BUFFALO IN YELLOWSTONE PARK. features-is characterised by the marked convexity of the forehead and the tubular form of the sockets for the eyes. The external form of the Bison is too familiar to need much mention. The characteristic elevation of the withers and the consequent lowness and apparent weakness of the hindquarters is the result of the great height of the spines projecting from the upper surface of the vertebræ of the fore part of the trunk. This elevation of the withers is enhanced by the mass of long hair clothing the fore-quarters, which also extends on to the neck, head, and fore-limbs. Elsewhere the hair-in the winter coat-is comparatively short and curly; and since in spring this coat is shed in large irregular patches Bison at this season present a peculiarly ragged and unprepossessing appearance. small herd is, it is true, kept by the Prince of Pless in Silesia, but this appears to be composed of introduced animals, and has been replenished from Russia. In Bielowitza and the adjacent forest of Swisslotsch, the Bison have been steadily on the wane since the year 1857, when they numbered 1,898 head, although the rate of decrease has been by no means regular, and has at some periods been accelerated by popular disturbances, disease, and other adventitious • causes. Of late years the decrease in numbers has been very marked, the herd (inclusive of a small number confined in the Zoological Gardens at Bielowitza) having declined from 600 in 1882 to 380 in January, 1889, although by 1892 (since which date the numbers do not appear to have been published) it had again risen to 491. In-and-in breeding seems to be producing the usual results-namely, infertility on the part of the cows, and the birth of an unusually large percentage of bulls; and it is only too probable that the term of existence of the Bison in Lithuania will be very limited. Information is lacking as to the prospects of the survival of the Bison in the Caucasus.

In place of being a forest-dwelling species, the nearly allied American Bison (Bos americanus) is-or rather was-a dweller on the open prairies, although a variety known locally as the "Wood- Buffalo" accustomed itself to a different mode of life. The American species is so closely allied to the European that it is a somewhat difficult matter to define the points of distinction, although when the two [Copyright by Underwood and Underwood.

TIBETAN YAK (Bos grunniens). animals are seen side by side, their points of difference are manifest enough. Although, on the whole, a more heavily built animal, the American Bison is less tall than the European species, with weaker hindquarters; but the deficiency in height is largely veiled by the much more abundant hair on the head, neck, and forequarters.

The story of the practical extermination of the American Bison is told elsewhere, so that very few words must suffice on this occasion. The marvel is that an animal which existed in such countless thousands, and enjoyed such a vast geographical range -a range far greater than that of any other of the Bovida-should have been wiped out in such a short space of time. In 1869, when the Union-Pacific Railway was completed, the Bison still flourished almost in its original numbers. After the division of the animals into two great herds by the railway, the great period of the slaughter of the southern herd occurred in the seventies, by the end of which the herd, as such, had practically ceased to exist. Not but a BISON AND BUFFALO what numerous smaller herds remained for several years, although early in the eighties Bison-shooting in the south came to an end, for the very good reason that there were no animals to shoot. By the same date the northern herd had been decimated, and that was soon reduced to a few straggling parties, all of which were afterwards killed off, save for a small band which reached the Yellowstone Park, where they and their descendants have since received Government protection. These, and a certain number of the southern herd which fled to the wilder parts of Texas, are all that remain of the millions that formerly populated the prairies of the North-West. a Whereas Bison, as we have seen, have high withers, shaggy fore-quarters and heads, and cylindrical horns, the animals to which the name Buffalo should properly be restricted are characterised by the nearly uniform height of the back, the comparatively sparse coating of hair over the entire skin, and the more or less markedly triangular horns. So thin, indeed, is the hair in aged individuals that in many instances the skin of the greater part of the body is almost completely bare. As further "points" of Buffalo may be noticed the broad muzzle, the large, flapping earsoften heavily fringed with long bristly hair -the deep and short neck, and the moderately long and tufted tail. More important than all these features is, however, the reduction in the number of pairs of ribs to thirteen. All the Buffaloes are old-world forms-as, indeed, are all the oxen, save the American Bison.

Although Buffalo form a well-defined group of the genus Bos, the differences existing between the various species are very much more accentuated than is the case with the Bison, the African species forming one section of the group, and the Oriental another. Of the former, the largest and best known is the Cape Buffalo (Bos caffer), whose typical range extends from the Cape to about the equator. Among the especial distinctive features of the typical form is the enormous development of the bases of the much-curved horns, which in old bulls form a huge mass covering the whole of the upper part of the forehead, and separated only by a narrow groove at their junction. Furnished with enormous, flapping ears, thickly fringed at their margins with hair, the head is remarkably short, with its profile deeply concave in the region of the eyes, and having a distinct hollow near the inner angle of each of the latter. Whereas in cows and young bulls the black skin is fairly well clothed BISON AND BUFFALO] with short dark brown hair, in old bulls it becomes almost completely naked. On the ears and tail-tip the hair, however, always persists. [See BUFFALO, CAPE.] Such is the typical southern form of the Cape Buffalo. When, however, we cross the equator and proceed towards Abyssinia, an animal of a somewhat different type is met with. This is the Bos centralis, or Bos aequinoctialis of the older writers. In this form the whole build is much lighter and the size smaller, while the hair is lighter coloured and the horns have their bases much less thickened, and separated from brownish tinge, and the horns, which are relatively small, are completely separated from one another in the middle line. Two races of this species have been described the one from the Congo district, and the other from Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood. In the Congo race the upwardly curved horns are very distinctly flattened at their base; and it is this race which approximates so closely to the so-called Bos aequinoctialis of Equatoria, and thus gives rise to the suspicion that the Short-horned Buffalo is, after all, nothing more than a highly aberrant modification of the Cape A HERD OF AFRICAN BUFFALO. [Photo. by A. Radclyffe Dugmore. each other by a median line of hair.

Although some of these Abyssinian Buffaloes differ very markedly from the typical Cape form, yet in the intermediate regions the two seem to intergrade so completely that it appears impossible to regard them in the light of anything more than varieties of a single very variable species.

Passing into Western Africa, we meet another somewhat small and lightly-built Buffalo, which, although showing considerable resemblances to some examples of the Bos aequinoctialis, is generally admitted to the rank of a distinct species, under the name of the Red or Short-horned Buffalo (Bos pumilus). The colour of the hair is generally some shade of reddish or yellowish, although occasionally showing a species. On the other hand, in the Sierra Leone, or north-western type, the horns show extremely little trace of basal flattening, and are very widely separated from one another on the forehead, while the direction of their curvature is different.

With the Oriental Buffaloes we come to a very distinct type, which probably includes only one true species. This is the Indian Buffalo (Bos bubalus), whose proper habitat is formed by the lofty grass jungles of certain parts of India and Ceylon. It is true that reputed wild Buffalo are found in Burma and the Malayan peninsula and islands, although it is probable that these are really descendants from animals originally introduced by man. Many of these feral races as they are scientifically called -have become very much dwarfed in size, this being especially the case with those inhabiting Java. The distinctive features most easily recognised in the Indian Buffalo-the Arna of the natives are the length and comparative slenderness of the head, and the enormous dimensions attained by the widelyspreading horns, which are always separated from one another by an interval of great extent, and show no trace of a basal expansion. They are, too, much more distinctly triangular throughout their length than are those of the African species, from which they also differ in their direction.

There is a marked sexual difference in the direction taken by the horns, those of the females extending almost directly outwards from the head for a long distance, whereas those of the males curve upwards in a bold sweep immediately after rising from the forehead. Apparently, however, in the Assam race the horns of the bulls are directed much more outwardly than is elsewhere the case. Equally distinctive of the species are the smaller and more compact ears, of which the margins are devoid of a distinct fringe of hair. Although the usual colour of the sparse hair and skin is blackish-grey, a dun-coloured variety is found in parts of Assam.

In addition to being domesticated throughout the Oriental countries, the tame Indian Buffalo has been introduced into Asia Minor, Italy, and Egypt, where it appears to flourish as well as in its native home.-[See BUFFALO, INDIAN.] a A small sturdily built Buffalo from Mindao in the Philippines, locally known as the Tamarao, has been described as a distinct species, under the name of Bos mindorensis. In colour it resembles the Indian species, with which it likewise agrees in its markedly triangular horns. Instead, however, of curving outwards and upwards, the horns are directed upwards, with marked divergence, but with little or no curvature. The whole appearance of this diminutive animal-which is only about 3/2 feet in height-is strongly suggestive of its being a cross between the small Malayan race of the Indian Buffalo and the little Anoa of Celebes. That it breeds true at the present day, and thus forms a wellmarked race, may be freely admitted; but its claims to rank as a valid species are doubtful in the extreme.

Although the Anoa (Bos depressicornis) of Celebes can scarcely be regarded as a true Buffalo, yet its affinities are clearly with that group. The upright direction of its horns, and other features, indicate, howa [BISON BISON AND BUFFALO ever, a decided approximation to the Antelopes. To young Buffalo the Anoa presents a more decided resemblance than to the adult. The small size of this species (3 feet 3 inches at the withers) is in harmony with the small area of its habitat. R. LYDEKKER.

BLACK GAME (Tetrao tetrix).- British sportsmen are generally alive to counteract, if possible, any danger which may threaten the extinction of a creature of the chase in which they take special interest. This, we are happy to think, has been the case with the black grouse, for there is considerable reason to think that, on the whole, there has been a marked increase in their numbers since the agitation occurred in their favour a few years ago. Nowadays the gray hens are seldom shot, save by accident; and though the birds have vanished from many of their old haunts, there are now in Scotland, their chief home, an equal number of fresh districts in which they have become more or less plentiful. Close observation tells us that the gray hen breeds for two or three seasons only, after which she becomes barren and useless; and the introduction of square-mouthed drains on moor edges accounts for the destruction of a large percentage of young birds. Distribution. The best districts in Scotland for black game are Dumfriesshire, Roxburgh, parts of Perthshire, Invernessshire, Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, and Argyllshire. În England they are numerous in the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland, and Northumberland, whilst good bags are occasionally still obtained in Somersetshire; and until very recently the birds have been killed in every county from Cornwall to Caithness. In Wolmer, the New Forest, and Staffordshire, black game were formerly plentiful, but are now practically extinct. Re-introduction is, in their case, a failure; for the repeated efforts to reestablish the species in Norfolk, the New Forest, Wolmer Forest, and Ireland have met with no success.

Habits. Black game love the rough and broken country bordering cultivated and arable land. Though wandering in early autumn far out into the open moors, the first breath of winter sends them to their true home amongst the deep heather and rough grass lying beneath the birch and fir woods. From this cover they emerge in early morning and in the evening in search of their food supply, which, to such omnivorous feeders, practically comprises After Archibald Thorburn.

BLACK GAME.

THE TATE CENTRAL LIBRARY BRIXTON, S.W.

BLACK GAME everything in the shape of grain, seeds, fruit, and insect life that the various seasons afford. As the winter comes on, and the birch buds, a favourite food of theirs, give out, they will sometimes take to the Scotch firs and devour the youngest shoots, but will not do so unless driven to it by stress of weather. A lack of food supply frequently causes vast migrations of these birds in Norway, Sweden, and Russia; but in our islands, a movement on their part is uncommon except for short distances, and then only confined to individuals and small parties.

The first signs of spring awake the martial instincts of the black cock. By nature, he is a warrior, and those who have watched him in his spring battles cannot fail to have the greatest affection for him, for he is such a veritable preux chevalier and settles his little differences so like a gentleman. By the end of March, the black cocks come regularly adorned to their playing-ground, generally an open space of short green grass on the fringe of the moor. The noise made by the birds, each of which selects a station some fifteen or twenty paces from his neighbour, can be heard on a still frosty morning at a distance of nearly two miles; it is a gentle purring sound not unlike the word "whirroo." At intervals, too, the black cocks, particularly if a gray hen has been observed near the battleground, set up a loud screeching noise not unlike cats fighting at night. In April, when the gray hens begin to come regularly to the lists, there to be fought for and appropriated, the black cock who first possible spouse approaching throws himself up in the air and flutters up perpendicularly like a lark to a height of twenty or thirty feet. His example is immediately followed by all the other black cocks, who, each and all, endeavour to screech the loudest to attract her attention.

Black cocks fight long and savagely, often till one or other of the combatants is disabled, though, as with our species, there is a good deal of talk before they begin.

No immature cock is allowed to enter the ring. On fine days, in late autumn, black cocks frequently go through their spring pantomime, exhibiting many of their previous antics and calls; but this exhibition is but a subdued version. observes a By the middle of May the gray hen has formed a nest of loose dry grass, and in it she deposits her eight or ten eggs, the first brood being seen generally about the beginning of June. Though the gray hen is an excellent mother, the young are extremely delicate, and more than half, as THE TATE CENTRAL LIBRARY BRIXTON 3251V. a rule, fall victims to various causes. When the chicks are no larger than thrushes, they can fly well, and, if flushed, will readily alight in the trees, where, by the way, the mother generally takes them to roost for safety's sake.

With the moulting of his glorious plumage, the black cock's fiery nature vanishes; he becomes shy, and spends much of his time, with a few companions, hiding in the thick bracken; and as the autumn advances, the regular winter parties are formed. The breeding hens and young of both sexes go together in small or large numbers, whilst the old black cocks form a separate pack or party, sometimes numbering as many as three hundred, as the writer has seen at Doune, in Perthshire. The barren hen goes on her own account, though it does not, of the least necessity, follow that the single hens which are so noticeable in covert shooting are unfertile. Shooting. The flight of black game is very rapid when they are once under way, about the same as that of grouse, but performed with greater ease and less scurry, and capable of being extended to a much greater distance. The law permits shooters to butcher black game as early as August 20th, but no one who is anything of a shot or has any appreciation for the beauties of nature should ever kill his birds before the middle of September, unless they are actually wanted for the pot. Till this time, when walked up, they are neither an attractive nor difficult mark, whereas, if driven later on, they fulfil every necessary qualification of a high-class bird of the chase.

Driving. When driving, it is well to remember that black game are not too easy to kill; their pace is slightly deceptive, and it is best, therefore, to take both one's shots in front if possible: the gunner, too, must be well on the alert to observe their approach, as they are very silent when coming forward, and he must be ready to shoot very smartly in case they resort to the dodging header, a ruse they often attempt if frequently driven.

Black game are as obstinate as government mules when they do not wish to go. With a few trained beaters, a good keeper who knows their lines of flight and passes will put them to the guns better than an army of irregulars. Lying in the stooks in an October evening is capital sport, and a few old black cocks shot as they come in to feed afford almost as much fun as duck shot during flighting. Dull misty weather is the best for black game shooting, as the birds go straight ahead, and do Z not get into large packs coming on all at once.

There is very little poaching of these birds in Scotland beyond snaring on the stooks, but in England silk net is used to some extent in the border counties. Their strength, speed, and fine sight, too, gives them a fair immunity from the attacks of vermin, the Peregrine alone stooping and killing one occasionally; and then but for sport, for their flesh is not esteemed by the raptorials. A black cock makes a charming pet, and becomes very tame, and his attitudes in the spring are interesting and amusing to watch.

Black game have been known to interbreed with Capercailzies, Pheasants, Grouse, Willow-grouse, Bantam, and common Fowl, the hybrids usually being very dark and taking after the black cock, whose progeny they generally are. As with most hybrids, the young are generally males, the most frequent cross being that with the Capercailzie, which may be said to be almost common. Gray hens, too, not infrequently, partially assume the plumage of the male. Whole or partial albinos are extremely rare. [See also GROUSE.] J. G. MILLAIS.

BLACK COCK TOURNAMENTS. - A custom prevails in Russia of shooting the male birds of the black game family during the mating season, a practice excused by northern sportsmen on the ground that the males of this species greatly exceed in numbers the female birds, and that, in their rivalry for the latter's favours, the cocks destroy numerous sittings of eggs by fighting over the very nest. Those who know the black cock only in the broad light of day may be surprised to learn that in the early hours of a spring morning-from about 2.30 a.m. until sunrise-these birds hold what is to all intents and purposes a tournament in some selected clearing between the forests, or in convenient belts of open woodland. Hither flock the gray hens from their nests, each one watching from bush or tree on the borders of the lists, and flying off anon with her victorious knight.

In the lists, however, the black cock rarely comes to blows, though serious fights are said to take place afterwards over the nests.

In order to discover the chosen tourneyground of the sable warriors, it is essential to pass a night or two in the forest, a function generally performed by the keeper, who may hear from a mile away the hectoring and crooning of the combatants, and [BLACK GAME will then creep to the edge of their battlefield in order that he may select the exact site for his pine-bough shelter (Russicè, Shalashka) in which the sportsman is destined afterwards to crouch. The pine branches are placed end-up in a circle, their tops converging to a point, the base enclosing a space about five or six feet in diameter.

Within this space, shortly after midnight, the sportsman takes up his position and waits until, with the earliest indications of coming dawn, the black-plumed champions arrive one by one with a rush and a whirr through the darkness, and alight unseen with a thud close to his ambush, the site of which the keeper has chosen with care.

Presently a great crooning arises from many throats, growing in volume until the sound becomes absolutely oppressive. Suddenly, a champion issues his challenge: chu-wish! chu-wish! and in an instant the defiance is taken up from every side. The knights close in to the fray, and the bloodless tournament commences, each pair fighting, or pretending to fight, like any two pugnacious barndoor cocks in a farmyard.

It is then that the sportsman may, when the light becomes strong enough, shoot many times without clearing the field, the spectacle of slaughtered companions neither alarming nor even, to all appearance, surprising the survivors. No sooner, however, does the rising sun appear than all hasten from the lists, and the sportsman should remain concealed until the very last bird has disappeared, otherwise his ambush will not avail him a second night.

FRED WHISHAW.

BOAR, WILD. - Habitat. Luckily for hunters as a class, the range of the wild boar (Sus scrofa) is almost world-wide.

On the American Continent, indeed, he has no place, although in Old Mexico, and, it is said, as far north as Arizona, he is represented by a small variety of his race known as the Peccary (q.v.), which, though neither as large nor as well armed as the true wild boar, has some of the attributes of that grand beast, and (making due allowance for western exaggeration) must be endowed with very considerable pluck and pugnacity.

Another distant cousin of the true wild swine has his haunt in South Africa, where he is known as the Wart hog (q.v.), a beast furnished by nature with tusks alongside of which the record tusks of Indian or Caucasian boars would look utterly insignificant; but occurring as he does in a country where there is such a prodigality of the more important great game, little BOAR, WILD] is known of him as a sporting beast, and none but casual notice of him occurs in most of the African works on sport. From these, however, he appears to possess some of the pace and his share of the pluck and fighting qualities of his race. W. C.

Baldwin, for instance, in his African Hunting, mentions, in passing, that his big staghound "Hopeful" was carried bodily away on the points of a wounded wild boar's tusks for full fourteen yards.

But the true Wild Boar is Sus scrofa, and though he is found in Northern Africa, in the Hawaiian and most of the South Sea Islands, and in other somewhat unexpected places, his true home is in India and Europe.

In very early days wild swine were plentiful in England, and Mr. J. E. Harting, in his Extinct British Animals, writes that, "to judge of the remains of the animal which have been found in various parts of the British Islands, Wild Boars at one time must have completely overrun the country.

In Ireland they were even more plentiful than in England, though small and misshapen, and in Scotland also they were abundant. They grew to such a size that we have a record of one pair of tusks taken about 1124 which measured 12 inches in length and three in their greatest width.

But the wild boar, like a good many better things in England, has had to make room for civilisation, and though his admirers have made several efforts to re-establish him in his old haunts, their efforts have been in vain." Public opinion, which will hardly tolerate the existence of a rabbit, rises in indignation against the wild boar, whose ideas on farming are certainly peculiar. It is, of course, impossible to fix the exact date at which any given animal became extinct in England, but from documents quoted by Mr. Harting it may fairly be assumed that there were wild boar in abundance in the forests round London in 1174: that the King and Prince of Wales hunted them near Windsor in September, 1617: that in that year boar were still to be found in Lancashire, and that almost at the end of the century (1683) wild swine still existed in England.

In France they exist still, and in Germany, Austria, Russia, and Spain they are plentiful, and still form a prominent feature in the great game drives of those countries.

From Europe eastward, the tracks of the wild swine are by every sluggish stream, his lair in every reed-bed, and his routings the ruin of every peasant's crops. From the Black Sea to the Bay of Bengal there is a ringing of bells by night, a blowing of horns and sounding of clappers, together with an irregular musketry fire all through the ripening time of the grain, and all this in honour of the great wild boar, who as soon as the dusk comes, steals out from the wooded foot-hills or the stony gorges, and trots down to the cultivated grounds to dine.

And the boar deserves all honour. He was England's noblest beast of chase in England's manliest days; and in England's great schooling-ground for soldiers to-day, what beast is his equal? Let some of the men who know him speak. In the Wild Sports of India, Major Shakespear says, "I consider that hog-hunting is the very [Photo. by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.

WILD BOAR (Sus scrofa). first sport in the world." Col. Heber Percy in the Badminton volumes calls the boar "the pluckiest of all beasts," while Col.

Kinloch, in his Large Game Shooting in Thibet, endorses both these opinions.