JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



53 



Owing to the time required to reload 

 tlie muzzle-loading gun, many ducks 

 got by without their intended pill. 

 That was considered a serious offence. 

 The active brain of man, however, 

 soon prepared a balm of Gilead for 

 that wound; the breech-loading gun 

 appeared. "Then was the winter of 

 their discontent made glorious." 



With the muzzle-loading gun, the 

 load was at first measured, by pour- 

 ing the necessary amount of powder 

 into the palm of the hand, and then 

 from the hand into the gun. A wad- 

 ding of paper was then rammed down 

 with a rod for that purpose, to hold 

 the powder in place, and the shot was 

 treated the same. The cap necessary 

 to discharge the load when exploded 

 was then placed on the cap tube and 

 the gun was ready to discharge. How 

 many times in winter have I stopped 

 to blow my fingers or put them in my 

 mouth to warm them. 



In my mind I now see a gunner 

 standing on the rock-bound coast, the 

 sea dashing high upon the shore. The 

 dwarf fii- and spruce, characteristic of 

 the coast, loaded with snow, the ends 

 of their low limbs touching the snow 

 beneath, forms a back ground. A bit- 

 ter cold northwest wind sweeps the 

 ice covered rocks, while he with bare 

 hands numb with cold, tries to reload 

 the gun he has just discharged. 



Sometimes in the hurry to load, both 

 loads (if it be a double barrel gun) 

 go into one barrel. Again both pow- 

 der and shot go in together without 

 any wad between, the delay causing 

 the gunner's fingers to become so 

 numb with cold that he cannot hold 

 the cap between his fingers to place 

 it on the tube. 



Such conditions often caused ejacu- 

 lations to proceed form the mouth, 

 which even the fear of the stocks or 

 whipping post would not have stiffled. 



The introduction of the breech-load- 

 ing gun overcome the difficulties just 

 mentioned, as the load is confined in a 



cartridge. As many loads as needed 

 can be loaded at home, so that when 

 on the shooting grounds, all time lost 

 is while removing the empty cartridge 

 and substituting a loaded one. The 

 time of cocking the hammers to ex- 

 plode the cap which is now in the end 

 of the cartridge instead of on a tube, 

 had to be considered, and then the 

 hammerless gun appeared. The im- 

 provement in that gun is, that when 

 it is opened to load or discard the 

 empty cartridge, it at the same time 

 places the hammer in position to ex- 

 plode the cap. 



With all the improvements mention- 

 ed time was lost in which some birds 

 got by. To prevent that small chance 

 for the birds, the repeating shot-gun 

 has developed. This gun has all the 

 improvements mentioned and a maga- 

 zine which holds seven loads. The 

 mechanism is such that two motions 

 throw out the empty cartridge and re- 

 place it with a loaded one. 



Such a gun when discharged by an 

 expert, reminds me of parching corn. 

 Competition has placed the modern 

 gun in the hands of most men and al- 

 so boys who want one, and the result 

 is this. 



Long after the larger flocks of ducks 

 and other sea birds had been driven 

 from the shore, a few smaller flocks 

 and single birds continued to feed 

 around the shore, but as fast as one 

 came in sight a pair of eyes were 

 glaring at it from behind a rock or 

 some other cover, and as soon as the 

 bird came within shooting distance, 

 it was met with a bang! bang! for 

 an introduction. 



If the gunner was a good shot, that 

 ended the play. If not, it served to 

 make the bird more wary in again 

 approaching the shore. 



Twenty years ago, during the fall, 

 winter and spring months, it was no 

 trouble for a gunner to take as many 

 birds as he could eat, under such con- 

 ditions as before mentioned. At the 



