as a boy he used to practise throwing stones at things , until rabbits and squirrels , and even birds , got out of his way as quick as lightning if they saw him stoop ; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of his time at quoits , dart-throwing , shooting at the wand , bowls , ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and throwing sort-indeed he could do lots of things , besides blowing smoke-rings , asking riddles and cooking , that i have n't had time to tell you about .