62 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 
down to us. We will take the lower end of the flock. 
Tis true they are not so thick as above, or in the 
middle, but it’s necessary to always keep the bow to- 
ward them, and not expose the sides, or we would be 
seen. Keep low! they are working this way! I won't 
try to scull against this current, but will make her hold 
her own. Sh—careful! They are about fifty yards 
from us, and a single canvas-back among them. Leave 
him for me. Confound it! A prying blue-bill has 
swamaround us. He sees us; he has his neck stretched 
up, and will alarm the whole flock. Rise quietly and 
fire! Watch your cripples! Kall them at once or they 
will get away. Six? I thought we had seven down ; 
but then the fluttering of the dying and the wounded 
trying to escape might have made me miscount. Take 
a good look now you have them together, and you will 
notice the bill of a red-head is concave and blue ; while 
that of the canvas-back is black and wedge shaped. 
That narrow opening we see over on the Iowa shore, 
is called “ Hole in the Wall,” an appropriate, if not ele- 
gant name. The water there is very deep. It is the 
steamboat channel. It gets its name from its pocket- 
like appearance, cutting in from the wide river to the 
abrupt bottom land behind it. The islands seem close 
together, and they are; still, far enough apart to make 
an excellent channel. We will go to the east and 
through the tall timber. We will find ducks every- 
where to-day. This place is new to you; not to me. 
Those tall trees are old friends of mine. Eighteen 
years ago, when a boy, I wandered beneath those huge 
limbs. They look the same now as then; they don’t 
seem to have grown a particle in size. Down their 
strong bodies the furrowed lines are running, the same 
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