THE MALLARD. 105 



bag, and makes a very savoury dish for the table. The sport 

 is frequently followed in the evening, when the Ducks fly in 

 from the sea or from lakes to their feeding grounds, the 

 sportsman concealing himself behind a hedge or tree in their 

 usual line of flight, and killing them on the wing as they fly 

 overhead. I have found that one of the most successful ways 

 of shooting Wild Ducks is to go to their feeding places — such 

 as marshy grounds, the sides of small streams, ditches, and the 

 like — very early in the morning '^ before it is quite light, for 

 they are then generally not so wary as usual, and allow the 

 gunner to approach within range before they fly up. "When 

 severe frost occurs in winter, and snow covers the ground. 

 Ducks are found on those parts of our rivers and small 

 streams which keep free from ice, and if the fowler be pro- 

 vided with a suit of white linen to cover his clothes, and a 

 white cap, they may be stalked with greater success than in 

 ordinary shooting costume, for the white dress is not con- 

 spicuous when seen against a background of snow. I have 

 frequently sat in the snow at dawn by the side of Langton 

 Burn, near Wedderburn Castle, and shot Ducks as they came 

 flying close past me, my white dress concealing me from their 

 view. On the morning of the 9th of January 1879 I killed 

 eleven Mallards in this manner in half an hour. As day- 

 light approaches, and the sun rises on such occasions, 



What pen or pencil shall presume to draw 

 The glowing scene — the rosy hue that paints 

 The glistening snow, the fiery gleams that flash 

 From crystal icicles, the rocks which deck, 

 Or hoary willow roots, and with a flood 

 Of brightest splendour light the river up ! 



1 Mr. John Black, Girrick, Nenthorn, informs me that Wild Ducks frequent the 

 Edeu (which forms the western boundary of his farm) in great nundjers. The 

 numerous bends in the course of the stream are very favourable for stalking the 

 Ducks, and he has killed as many as eight in a morning by walking up the side of 

 the river and shooting them as they rose from the water at the angles of the stream. 

 He has killed seventy in a season. 



