Shore-bird Shooting 441 



abound, and have a special fondness for blueberry 

 patches ; following the falling tide until the fur- 

 thermost bars are exposed, and flying on to the 

 dunes with the turning water. Here in localities 

 where berries abound, they congregate in vast 

 flocks. The flight usually is in range of land, and 

 when the birds have been undisturbed the course 

 taken by the successive flocks is generally the same. 

 As the line of birds first comes into view, low 

 down and directly toward you, now almost in 

 range, there are few pleasanter moments in shore- 

 bird shooting. They sheer a little from the place 

 of concealment, when a well-timed whistle brings 

 them within shot. For a short while the birds 

 come thick and fast in flocks of from ten to fifty, 

 then less often, and finally only an occasional be- 

 lated bird is seen. A few days' shooting in such 

 a location drives them away. On the flats and 

 marshes they come to decoys but in small num- 

 bers. 



Curlew have the habit of repairing to some 

 particular spot to spend the night, often congre- 

 gating together in vast numbers. One of these 

 roosts was a small, high island a mile or so from 

 shore. On this the birds gathered in hundreds, 

 the first flocks coming late in the afternoon. Na- 

 tives in some instances have killed over a hundred 

 birds here in a short time ; but one day's shoot- 

 ing is all, then they desert the place. From the 



