OUTFITS, BLINDS, DECOYS AND DUCK-CALLS. 851 
branded both. Now, don’t buy decoys simply because 
they are cheap, mallards especially ; others don’t make 
so much difference, for red-heads and blue-bills will at 
times come to anything—chunks of wood, sticks or any 
object that has the slightest similarity to themselves. 
My decoys are the best I could buy—perfect in shape, 
faultlessly painted, and artistic and real in every way. 
They will last me a life-time, because they are cared 
for. You hunt for recreation ; you do this even if ad- 
verse winds have blown you into some harbor where 
necessity demands that it be done for the support of 
you and yours. Still, you find in it a pleasure, in spite of 
your reverses. If this is your lot, my sportsman heart 
wells out to you, for some of my truest friends are 
market hunters, whom the fates have dealt unkindly 
with. Then, trying as you do, to get the greatest pos- 
sible pleasure out of it, my word for it, natural and life- 
like decoys will aid you materially, not only in being 
pleasant to the eye, but in being the means of swelling 
your total shot during any day. 
The skill and inventive powers of man are constantly 
brought into action to discover devices to make more 
successful the pursuit of wild fowl. In this way we 
hear of rubber decoys, folding decoys, reversible de- 
coys, decoy frames, profile decoys, etc., almost without 
limit. Let the young hunter ponder well before he in- 
vests in decoys, and feel that he is getting just what 
he requires in localities where he knows he will hunt. 
Tame ducks make splendid decoys, as they are con- 
stantly on the move, thus attracting attention ; be- 
sides, are at all times loudly quacking. Especially is 
this the case when the birds are passing over. Their 
movements in the water, their similarity to their wild 
