Fowling Reminiscences 141 



fairly lifted by the tide. Thus " on their last legs," as 

 it is technically expressed, they stand visibly exposed 

 upon the white water, although before the tide had 

 reached them they were in complete obscurity. The 

 sportsman has now only to wait in the dark water until 

 there is sufficient depth on the white surface to enable 

 his punt to approach within range of the birds, when 

 very large numbers — upwards of fifty at a shot — may be 

 killed by a well-aimed discharge. These, of course, are 

 very favourable conditions ; at other times, and when 

 there is no moon, the punter must let fly the instant 

 that he distinguishes the birds, or, as it sometimes hap- 

 pens, as soon as he gets within shooting distance of the 

 inexperienced sporting curate in his punt, whom he 

 mistakes for the birds. The writer himself, in com- 

 pany with two other punters, once bore down upon a 

 young clerical gentleman for : everal minutes, with 

 three miniature cannon, in the shape of punt-guns, 

 primed, capped, and cocked, and carrying about two 

 pounds of shot in all, and absolutely covered him at less 

 than sixty yards — under the impression that he was 

 widgeon. 



A good ear for ornithological sounds is as necessary to 

 the midnight sportsman as the natural musical ear is to 

 the most accomplished harpist. Every wildfowler, from 

 the practised sportsman to the decoyman's wring-neck, 

 is more or less familiar with the ordinary notes of the 

 species duck, widgeon, geese, and such-like. He knows 

 the trumpet-like noise of a gaggle of wild geese, resem- 

 bling at a distance the rich tone of a pack of foxhounds 

 in full cry ; the sonorous and saucy " quack ! quack ! " 

 of the wild duck ; the soft but attractive ' ' wheow ! 

 wheow!" of the widgeon; the sharp and wailing whistle 

 of the plover ; the shrill but mournful cry of the curlew ; 

 the simple ' ' pee-wit ! " of the lapwing ; and the 

 " frank ! " warning of the majestic heron. With these 

 and many others the wildfowler becomes so easily ac- 

 quainted that a mistake of species cannot well be made. 



When free from all suspicion and unconscious of dan- 

 ger, the note of the solan goose is ' ' grog ! grog ! " and so 



