OF NORTH AMERICA. ST 
uncover their favorite food of small shell-fish, 
although they eat the insects of the higher 
beaches. 
They are shot from blinds at high water, 
over decoys, and whistled down, as they fly 
from the flats as these are covered by the flow- 
ing tide. But the gunner must be a good 
“caller,” or his bag will hang light, for an old 
‘“‘beetle-head” is as crafty as a fox, and an 
experienced gunner will not even use decoys 
on the high beaches, as the old birds will 
often not come down to them, but he will 
pick out a spot which was occupied, on a 
former tide, by the birds, dig a hole in the 
sand, cover it with boards and sand, leaving 
openings to shoot from and knock them over 
as they come up. 
On the flats a sink-box is built on a bar, 
either natural or artificial, and the birds will 
approach, as it is uncovered before the sur- 
rounding flats are bare. 
I know of no bird which is a more univer- 
sal favorite with sportsmen, as it requires the 
ereatest skill for its capture, and affording, as 
it does, a fitting reward for the trouble un- 
dertaken. 
The flesh is delicate, and the birds gener- 
ally plump. 
