CANVAS-BACK. 301 



troublesome at first, will soon become a kind of intuitive habit by 

 practice, and the gun will be found almost of itself to take the 

 proper direction, seemingly unguided by any special will of the 

 shooter. 



FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. 



Never shoot at ducks as they are coming towards you; wait till 

 they are on a line with your person, or till they have passed you, 

 as it is almost impossible for shot to penetrate through the thick 

 plumage of a duck when presented in this position. As the ducks 

 are approaching, raise your gun, take sight on them, and follow 

 the foremost with the eye and weapon until they come immedi- 

 ately overhead, or rather in a line parallel with your body ; then 

 slide the gun with a quick motion a short distance in front of 

 the flying column, being careful, however, to preserve its range 

 directly in their course, and fire without stopping the motion of 

 the arm. 



The distance which the gun is thus thrown before the ducks de- 

 pends entirely upon their probable distance from the shooter, the 

 velocity with which they are flying, and the other points already 

 alluded to above, all of which must be ascertained in a moment of 

 time, when the eye is resting upon the birds along the barrel of 

 the gun. One or two feet will nearly always be necessary to 

 insure success in bringing down canvas-backs, and sometimes even 

 as much as ten feet is not too far in advance, if the wind is 

 blowing fresh and the ducks travelling before it, as they most fre- 

 quently do. It should always be borne in mind that most ducks 



