SHOOTING THE SALT-WATER COOT 151 
The first coot, a white-wing, came to our decoys just 
after daybreak, skimming along low down over the 
water. It was my shot. The bird was just outside 
the decoys but coming fast, evidently with no intention 
of stopping. I shot the right and then the left barrel. 
The duck kept straight on and George fired quickly and 
downed it. 
‘“What was the matter?’’ asked George. 
“‘Just nothing,’’ I said, ‘“‘only a clean miss,” and 
George grinned. 
Now I don’t want George to know, but I will tell you 
what caused the miss. My borrowed nine-pound, ten- 
gauge gun had a six-pound trigger pull. My own gun, 
unfortunately at home, has a four-pound trigger pull. 
This unexpected extra two-pound pull yanked the 
barrel upward and tells the story of that first shot. It 
would have been a miracle if I had killed. 
At sunrise eleven boats were in line with three more 
forming a second line three hundred yards back of them. 
The boat next ours had a single occupant, a small man 
with a peaked cap. Hesat,in the stern of his boat hold- 
ing a remarkably long single-barreled gun. Several 
times one or two coot came within distant gunshot 
and he would aim his gun at them but did not shoot. 
Finally a bunch of eight came within fifty yards; I saw 
the single barrel go to his shoulder and this time he fired. 
It was the shot of the day. It rained coot. Six of the 
eight came down. The long single gun was an eight 
gauge, loaded with two and a half ounces of number 
three shot. 
Coot with us were few and far between, but finally 
a pair swerved in to take a look at our decoys. They 
were pretty wide but we were not passing up any 
chances. It was George’s turn and he knocked down 
