CHAPTER VII. 
RAIL SHOOTING. 
Success in this delightful sport depends as much 
upon the proper accessories, together with expeti- 
ence in minor matters, as in the great art of pro- 
perly handling the gun. The best shot, badly 
equipped, will be surpassed by an inferior marks- 
man accustomed to the business, and thoroughly 
fitted out for it. The shooting is done among high 
reeds, and from small, light, and unstable skiffs, 
which are poled over muddy shallows with an un- 
steady motion that puts an end to skill which is not 
founded on long practice. The sport lasts only during 
the few hours of high water, when the entire day’s 
bag must be made, and requires, after the bird has 
been killed, a sharp eye to retrieve him amid the 
weeds and floating grass. 
The number bagged, however, is sometimes pro- 
digious ; and although we rarely now hear of hun- 
dreds killed “in a tide,” as was formerly not unusual, 
the shots are still frequently rapid, and the result 
satisfactory. The bird rises heavily, its long legs 
hanging down behind ; flying slowly, it presents an 
easy mark to any one upon ¢erra firma, and if not shot 
at, will alight after proceeding thirty or forty yards. 
It comes on from the north during the early part 
