THE GOOSANDER AND THE PIED SMEW 253 



sort an' t'other " ; and this is during the winter 

 months, when the fowl visit us. So very surely do 

 the fish-eating divers indicate the presence of vast 

 shoals of finny wealth, that the boats make for 

 where they are at work, the fishers knowing that by 

 so doing they are certain to get rare hauls. 



Only those who have had the good fortune to 

 witness such sights can answer as to how close, how 

 very close, divers of all kinds will come to the fishing- 

 boats on some of the secluded parts of the coast 

 which are still left to us. The muck — that is, what 

 in the opinion of the crew are worthless fish — is 

 tossed overboard in great heaps. That is the time 

 to see the fowl come for the net shakings or scour- 

 ings ; food is there for them merely for the picking 

 up, they have not got to work for it. I have seen 

 these Buff-breasted Goosanders brought in by the 

 boats, but young birds and females were far more 

 numerous among them than the full-plumaged drakes. 

 Even these, however, were not considered rarities. 



There is one very great mistake which is frequently 

 made by those who at the present time go after fowl, 

 and that is, the influences of weather and the ques- 

 tion of what the birds feed on are not matters which 

 are very much thought about ; and it is of course 

 necessary that they should be considered. The fowl 

 are driven to some places much against their will, 

 but leave them again as soon as they can. There 

 is not the least reason to fear the extermination 

 of wild-fowl. Days have been spent by a man who 

 had no one to control or hinder him in the fruitless 



