100 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 
locate the flight-lines for himself. On still evenings the birds 
will invariably fly a regular line, but keep high. All that can 
be done is to wait until the last lots come and chance their 
being lower, which, as it gets darker, is often the case. On 
moonlight nights duck will often wait until the moon rises, 
if about an hour after dark, before they take inland. Clear 
moonlight nights are useless for duck-shooting ; those when 
the moon is veiled with patchy white clouds are the right 
ones, for then the shooter can easily see his birds outlined 
against the white clouds. For flight-shooting at night the 
gun must ‘‘fit,” or the results will be bad, as it is snap work 
at its best. Unless a good dog accompanies the sportsman 
the birds are better retrieved as shot, for if wounded and left 
for a brief moment they will be lost for a certainty. To the 
beginner, flock after flock of ducks winging inland over or 
near one particular spot will no doubt stir him to ask, ‘‘ Why 
do they all come in at the one point?” This is not a difficult 
matter to understand. It happens that the small flocks are 
rising from or about the same spot at sea and making to the 
same feeding ground inland, taking, of course, the same route, 
only a brief space of time after one another. 
Flighting at its best lasts but for a short half-hour, so it 
behoves the shooter to make the most of his chances. Duck 
will head the wind when practicable. If the wind is blowing 
strong ahead of them they generally keep lower, but if much 
shot at, night after night, they will be ‘‘up”’ at any cost. A 
strong wind blowing with the birds, has the effect of bringing 
them either very high or very low. They seldom fly at their 
usual height when the wind is with them. Changes of wind 
are often instrumental in altering the general lines of flight 
of the birds, and when strong always result in keeping the 
ducks low. The changes and strength of the winds as they 
affect the flight-lines of the birds should be carefully noted, 
and, should the gunner find from experience that, say, a 
