252 GAME DEEP-WATER FOWL. 



the ducks, but another breed of large dogs, of the 

 Newfoundland and water-spaniel mixture, are em- 

 ployed." 



The usual method of taking canvas-back in the 

 West is by the aid of decoys, shooting either 

 from a sink-box — a battery built of brush, etc., 

 on a paddle-boat — or from a blind built in some 

 favorable position along the edges of the willows. 

 The first named is but little used, however, on 

 account of the frequent difficulty of conveying it 

 from one lake to another, part of the distance per- 

 haps being through thick brush or willows or 

 across dry ridges. Then, as it necessitates the ser- 

 vices of two men to work it, but few more ducks 

 can be killed from it than by other methods 

 where each man may hunt separately. 



When ducks get bedded [i.e., in the habit of 

 sitting in large bodies in the same place for pur- 

 poses of feeding or otherwise) in the large, open 

 Avaters, and act shy of decoys placed near the 

 shore, a common paddle-boat covered with brush 

 and weeds answers nearly as well as the sink-box, 

 and costs much less labor to prepare ; and, when 

 done with, the brush may be thrown off, and the 

 labor of towing about the " sink " avoided. Some 

 of my readers may wish to try the sink, however, 



