WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. A 4 
unsurpassable for the purpose; and any tractable 
dog, if well trained, will answer in a measure. 
How different it is to stand in the narrow skiff 
among the tall reeds at early dawn, with the eager 
and expectant, though humble, associate, crouched 
in the bottom upon his especial mat, and there in 
the increasing light that paints the east with many 
changing hues, to single out the best chances from 
the passing flocks, and have your skill doubly en- 
hanced by the intelligent codperation of your com- 
panion ; than to lie, cramped, cold, and suffering, all 
through the weary hours, stretched at full length 
upon your back with eyes starmg up to Heaven and 
straining to catch a glimpse of the horizon over 
your beard or forehead; and oecasionally to rise to 
_ an equally constrained posture that is neither sitting 
nor lying, and do your best to discharge your gun 
with some judgment at a passing flock of fowl! 
Who can hesitate in selecting the mode in which he 
will pursue the sport of wild-fowl shooting? Most 
of the favorite varieties of ducks, including many 
that are known among ornithologists as sea-ducks, 
fuligule, are found in the many scattered ponds, 
the shallow marshes, or the extensive inland seas 
of the great west; while the swans and geese are 
shot, the former along the larger rivers and lakes, 
and the latter in the corn-fields. It is true that the 
enormous flocks that collect in the lagoons and bays 
of the South are rarely seen; but the flight of small 
bodies or single birds is more continuous, and pro- 
bably the total number even larger. 
