146 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 
prevent or delay your return, you are prepared. Do not 
neglect to use a thermos flask. No smoking when wildfowling 
is an order often heard propounded. As long as one does 
not allow smoking to interfere with or lose chances of sport, 
we are of opinion it little matters to the fowl. 
A thing to be noted when afloat off a large expanse of tidal 
shore is the change which sometimes occurs in the atmosphere. 
On days with a slight haze hanging round, and when the 
wind suddenly puffs up, and as suddenly dies down to an 
absolute calm, atmospheric changes are, probably, the most 
readily discerned. Fix your eye on an object about half 
a mile away. One hour it will appear to be a hundred 
yards off; another hour a couple of miles. These are 
conditions to be remembered, for, unnoticed, they are 
very deceiving, and may lead you astray. Another at- 
mospheric illusion is a mirage. At such times far-off 
objects appear high, as if above the horizon, and nearer 
objects are almost invisible until quite close. During such 
times good shots at fowl are often secured. A mirage, as it 
is locally called, is said to be a sure sign of rough weather, or 
in other words, the calm before the storm. 
