RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 409 



in our bays and rivers when he can, preferring 

 tide-waters and the arms of the sea, but if this 

 is not permitted he can do very well ' ' off shore" 

 and is one of the most numerous of the winter 

 dwellers on our coast. Still, the greater num- 

 ber have gone on to warmer climates, and Shell- 

 drakes are here in larger numbers during the 

 flight seasons than at any other time. 



If in the latter half of April or the first of 

 May the gunner turns out before daylight and 

 takes his stand upon a lonely ledge or the point 

 of some uninhabited island of the sea and puts 

 out his wooden decoys in a life-like group within 

 good shot reach of the grim-fronted rock be- 

 hind which he lies hidden, he is likely to find 

 good sport for two or three hours while the 

 Shelldrakes are flying in from ' ' outside ' ' where 

 they have been asleep on the breast of the At- 

 lantic. 



The moon is paling and the stars are losing 

 their lustre. The day is coming and across the 

 eastern sky a pink light is creeping. The sleepy 

 world is rubbing its eyes and making ready for 

 its round of toil. The water is yet gray and 

 uncertain and the masses of the woods on the 

 islands round about are solid and sombre. But 



