304 THK WILD- FOWL Kit. 



Previously to the invention of guns, and improvements in the art 

 or' g-unnerj, the means employed by the ancient French fowler were 

 similar in many respects to those of the Eng-lish. He used nets, 

 snares, springes, nooses, bird-lime, and such-like devices ;* and we 

 learn, from a high authority upon French fowling,! that decoys, as 

 practised in England and Holland, were employed in various parts of 

 France. 



The most attractive method of wild-fowl shooting in France is 

 that in which a little dog is used for the purpose of enticing the birds 

 within range of the sportsman's g-un ; for this art the dog per- 

 forms a similar part to that of an English decoy-piper,t being taught 

 to obey its master's signs in silence, and to skip round reed-screens, 

 erected for the purpose on the banks of lakes or other resorts of wild- 

 fowl. 



The French sportsman, however, does not entice the birds up a 

 decoy-pipe, and capture them alive ; but, having allured them within 

 range of his gun, he thrusts the latter through a loop-hole in the 

 screen, and fires into the midst of the paddling, just as they turn tail 

 to swim away. Sometimes two or three gunners are stationed behind 

 the same screens 5 and when the birds are numerous, they all fire at 

 once. 



This practice is attended with far inferior success to that of the 

 quieter operations of the English decoyer. After the discharge of a 

 "•un, every bird leaves the lake ; and those which have once been en- 

 ticed by the dog to approach the shore, are afterwards extremely 

 wary and distrustful. The practice is only moderately successful in 

 the best fowling districts throughout the whole country. 



Mr. O'Connor recommends those who may wish to see a French 

 decoy, admirably arranged for wild-fowl shooting, with a reed-fence 

 surrounding it, to pay a visit to a pond in the marais of Soubruie, 

 occupied by M. Pierre Dewert, who lives upon an island, and sup- 

 ports himself by his exertions as a wild-fowl shooter.§ 



In many parts of France little skiffs, somewhat resembling Eng- 

 lish gunning- punts, are used for wild-fowl shooting, the occupants 

 lying flat down in the boat, and pushing it ahead with a pole fur- 



* Olina on Fowling. See also " Traitte de toute Sorte de Chasse et de reche," 

 before referred to. 



t Seliucourt. And vide ante, page 31. 



X Vide ante, page 56. 



§ O'Connor's " Introduction to tlie Field Sports of France." 



