WILD DUCK. 



173 



The reason in favour of a small piece of water for a decoy, 

 not exceeding three or four acres at the most, is, that when 

 thus confined in extent you can almost always work fowl, 

 but if a large lake is made a decoy, there may be thousands 

 of ducks on the water, but none near enough to a pipe to 

 regard the dog* or the decoy ducks. 



Bewick, in his excellent ornithological work, has given a 

 plan of one pipe of a decoy, with zigzag markings showing 

 the situation and position of the screens formed of reeds, by 

 which the fowler and his trained dog are hid from the sight 

 of the wild birds, an outline only of which is here introduced. 



The Duck and Mallard begin to congregate in the decoy 

 soon after midsummer, but these are the fowl that are bred in 

 the neighbourhood. About the first week in September the 

 Teal begin to come, and about the beginning of October, if 

 easterly winds prevail, there is generally a flight of fowl from 

 foreign countries, composed of Ducks, Wigeon, Dunbirds, 

 Teal, with a few of the Shoveler and Pintail Ducks ; but the 



* The well-trained dog moves the birds from the banks when they are 

 sluggish, and is otherwise useful when they are within the mouth of the pipe. 



