WILDFOWL OF THE NORTH-EAST COAST. 161 



A good eye and some judgment are required to distinguish 

 the different species of fowl as they speed overhead. The 

 local gunners of the coast have often remarkably good know- 

 ledge of these points ; the casual amateur little or none. 

 I recollect, a few years ago, one of these latter displaying 

 with much pride what he called " a Wigeon " he had shot. 

 When the palpable fact was pointed out that the bird was 

 not a Wigeon, but a common Mallard drake, he remarked, 

 " Well, that's what we call a Wigeon in the south, at any 

 rate ! " Next morning our friend jauntily strolled in to 

 breakfast with a pair of Brent Geese slung over the barrels 

 of his 12-bore, and ostensibly slain therewith. Such success 

 ■ — the morning being dead calm— was remarkable; but 

 during the day I chanced to discover that it was traceable to 

 the propinquity of a professional fowler's cottage among the 

 sand-links he affected ! 



There is some art in using a large gun and killing long 

 shots from a prostrate position at fowl passing fast and high 

 overhead, especially in the half-light. All wildfowl fly fast, 

 some at a tremendous speed ; and even those, such as Geese, 

 which appear to go slowly, are travelling far faster than they 

 seem. Many a first-rate game shot, who, when erect on his 

 legs, may be tolerably sure of his right and left under all 

 reasonable conditions, is wofully disappointed in his first 

 attempts to use a big gun. The new conditions and the 

 constrained position, lying prone among sharp and angular 

 rocks, are apt to disconcert his wonted skill ; and he has 

 perhaps to admit himself far outstripped at the business by 

 the long single barrel of a fisherman-gunner, who probably 

 could not hit a partridge to save his life. 



