230 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTIKG. 



ward, and thus give liim the best possible chance for knock- 

 ing them over with a rifle, or with a breech-loader charged 

 with buckshot or No. 1 shot. It is of little use to shoot 

 at them when the breast is presented, except with a rifle, 

 as the mass of feathers in front is sufficiently dense to 

 turn shot unless it is fired at close range, and even then 

 a person is not always sure of securing them. 



During heavy head or side winds they fly close to the 

 landj and this gives a person ashore an opportunity 

 of bagging a few; but they fly high in fine weather, and 

 when resting on the water they keep as far away from the 

 land as they can, as all their apprehensions of danger 

 are founded on its proximity. I have sometimes tried to 

 steal upon them from the bullrushes or shrubbery 

 growing along the shore, but I was generally unsuccessful, 

 for the moment my form appeared they swam rapidly 

 away or took to flight. They are certainly keen of vis- 

 ion, and seem to knovv' by intuition that man is their 

 greatest enemy, for they will flee from him at once, 

 whereas a bear, a wolf, or a fox, causes them no annoy- 

 ance, and may romp about in their sight without causing 

 any action on their part except a stare of curiosity. The 

 difficulty of making a good bag of swans can easily be 

 appreciated by those who have tried it in regions where 

 they are hunted much; hence, a man who brings down 

 his two or three brace in a day feels rather proud of his 

 achievement. This difficulty is all the greater from the 

 fact that they do not, so far as my experience goes, an- 

 swer to calls, either on the wing or the water, so that 

 a person has no resource left except to shoot them as they 

 pass his place of concealment, or to steal upon them 

 while they are paddling about in some narrow stream or 

 tarn, and tumble them over before they can rise for 

 flight. A m_an who is fonder of watching their actions 

 tlian of making a large bag, would prefer creeping upon 

 them in the water to bringing them down on the land. 



