THE GAME-DUCKS 303 



them. The attempt is sure to fail, but the effect is 

 interesting- to observe. Their sense of smell is obviously 

 keener than their perception of the danger; and as they 

 get our wind when still two or three gunshots distant, the 

 ducks will be observed to be affected by a suspicion which 

 appears to be vague and indefinite, each duck swimming 

 to and fro uneasily. Now they fly low, and probably 

 pitch again at no great distance. But that lurking spirit 

 of suspicion smoulders in their breasts, making them 

 restless and shifty, and seldom can that pack again be 

 manoeuvred. 



So great is the dash with which the game-ducks 

 (mallard, teal, or wigeon) spring from the sea, throwing 

 themselves at a single impulse a full dozen feet clear of the 

 water, that they cannot well be taken "on the rise" with 

 a set punt-gun. The shot must be taken on the water, 

 or, at latest, just as their wings are opening. Of course, 

 flying shots can be made by "tipping" the gun; but 

 these are not so effective as firing with the gun trained 

 in position along the fore-deck. To illustrate my mean- 

 ing, let us compare a shot at, say, mallard, and one 

 at geese. The latter fowl, being heavier and less active, 

 rise horizontally from the sea, offering at that moment 

 the most effective shot that can be desired. A gaggle of 

 geese, when swimming, may be compared to a book lying 

 flat on a table ; on rising, it is as though the book was 

 opened in the middle, and half its pages held upright, thus 

 presenting a far more extensive target. All that the 

 gunner need remember on going to geese, is to give his 

 gun a good elevation, and shove ahead full speed till they 

 rise. The geese themselves, in fact, give the signal when 

 to fire (if within range), and the fowler's difficulty is to 

 attain that distance. But with duck the case is different, 



