BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 165 



to avoid danger ; tbey succumb only to those sportsmen who have served a long 

 apprenticeship, and who have acquired a knowledge of their habits. 



John C. Cahoon (1888) a veteran gunner and collector, has de- 

 scribed various methods used on Cape Cod, as follows : 



Stands are built on th^ meadows and marshes by cutting bushes of about the 

 proper height and sticking them in the grass or mud so as to form a circle of 

 convenient size for one or more gunners. If bushes can not be found handily, 

 dry seaweed, grass, and other materials are sometimes used. On the mud 

 flats bunches of sedge grass afford concealment, but the most successful method 

 is to make a bar in the sand flats and sink a box, or dig a pit in the sand. It 

 requires considerable labor to build and keep a bar in order, also to sink a box. 

 The bar is laid bare before any of the surrounding flats, consequently the 

 birds, finding no other feeding place uncovered, fly to the bar. One other way 

 in which large numbers are sometimes taken is to find out the locality on the 

 high beaches where they roost during high tide, and digging a hole in the sand 

 for a place of concealment. They usually come to the same spot to roost each 

 high tide and by examining the beach these places can be easily found, by the 

 numerous footprints in the sand. The blind should be completed soon after the 

 tide begins to flow, as these birds leave the flats as soon as the tide commences 

 to cover them. For the young, or " pale bellies," all that is needed is a pit dug 

 with the sand thrown out around the top edge and a few decoys placed out the 

 right distance from the pit. For the old " black breasts " it is necessary to have 

 the top covered over with boards and dry sand spread on them and have an 

 opening in the sides and front, to shoot from. It is best not to put out any 

 decoys, as the old birds will seldom alight to decoys on the beaches, even if they 

 are made to look very natural. 



Most of my shooting has been done on the flats or beaches, from 

 sedge grass or seaweed blinds. On the inner side of Monomoy the 

 water is very shallow and at dead low tide the birds are away off, 

 perhaps a mile from shore, on the edge of the water. The flats near 

 shore are dotted with islands of sedge grass, where the gunner can 

 easily conceal himself in the tall grass, with the decoys set out on the 

 open mud. As the tide comes in rapidly over the shallows, preceded 

 by an advancing line of foam, the birds begin to move, flying up to 

 the marshes or beaches. A- blind may be made on the inner side of 

 the beach by digging a deep hole in the sand and piling up seaweed 

 around it. In either case the blind must be in some well-established 

 fly way between the feeding grounds and the resting places and must 

 be well enough made to offer good concealment. The best shooting 

 comes on the first part of the ebb and the latter part of the flood tide. 

 The gunner must keep out of sight and be ever on the alert, for at 

 any moment he may hear the wild, ringing cry or see single birds or 

 small flocks dash by at high speed. They seldom alight to the decoys, 

 though they often circle over them and are usually much scattered. 



I have often found it good sport to stalk " beetlehends " on the 

 beaches, where they rest at high tide. One kills very few birds in this 

 way, as the chances are all in favor of the bird. Young birds are less 



