1 8 The l4^ater-fowl Family 



along the coast the more important clubs regu- 

 larly have their pen of geese and ducks. The 

 difficulty of carrying stool, in many places out 

 of reach of boats, suggested the practicability of 

 canvas decoys. These are blown up like foot- 

 balls and corked, their lightness and portability 

 being an advantage; but they are difficult to 

 weight down, and bob around considerably in 

 any wind, and if the sportsman is addicted to 

 the habit of shooting birds on the water, his 

 decoys are liable to sudden collapse. On the 

 marshes wire rods are sometimes used to support 

 the dead ducks, and these answer admirably as 

 decoys, the wire being slipped underneath the 

 skin of the neck. In cases of emergency, various 

 means are used to attract the birds; lumps of 

 sod or bunches of seaweed, in places not much 

 gunned, are often effectual. In certain localities 

 where there is sea-shooting, strings of bladders 

 are strung out from the boats. Flat decoys are 

 seldom satisfactory for ducks, as the flock, circling 

 around before it lights, detects the difference. 



Considerable skill is required in setting out the 

 stool. They should be placed at just the right 

 distance from the blind ; if on a marsh, in a pool 

 of water, for the reflection then makes them con- 

 spicuous from afar. It should always be remem- 

 bered that ducks come in to decoys best against 

 the wind, and the stand of stool should be so 



