THE SCIENCE OF SCULLING WILD FOWL. SAi15 | 
oars ” ; then a hunter of experience will write on * jump- 
ing mallards” by paddling. All very good, provided one 
can get nothing better. But these methods can hardly 
be classed in the category of skill, when compared with 
sculling. As an illustration, let a man come down 
some winding stream in a boat, with bow-facing oars, 
or paddling his boat. If the stream is crooked and 
narrow, with overhanging willows extending from the 
bank into the main stream, then he will jump a good 
many birds, coming on them suddenly around sharp 
bends, driving them out from the edges when they are 
in the grass, smart-weed, or among the willow twigs, 
or along sloughs where the bottom grass, flags, or wild 
rice is high, and the channel narrow. Under such con- 
ditions he will meet with good success, but the scull- 
boat will work equally as well there. Then change 
the conditions into a wide running stream, where the 
eye can see the water in an unbroken line for a half 
mile, perhaps a full mile; where the ducks are feeding, 
preening and sitting on the bank, basking in the sun- 
shine. The hunter sees them, they see him. He can- 
not approach them by land; it is impossible to do so by 
water, because they will notice him long before he gets 
near enough to shoot. He takes in the situation at a 
glance, knows he cannot get near them, and deliber- 
ately routs them out. On such an occasion, note the 
sculler coming down, half reclining in his boat, the bow 
and sides trimmed with willow twigs and grass, to cor- 
respond with the shores he igs passing. He comes 
down almost in mid-stream. The ducks see the object, 
but there is nothing alarming about it, nothing notice- 
able; the little of the hull that can be seen looks like 
a floating log, and the willows on top like sprout- 
