378 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



shoot from them at a time, yet some are clouhle, but these 

 are not as good as the others, as two persons are more 

 readily seen than one, hence the ducks do not decoy to 

 them as well as they might. Most of the men carry two 

 or three guns, and their general method of using them is 

 to giye the birds the first one when they settle in the 

 water, the second when they rise, and the third as they 

 fly away. The charges which they use vary considerably, 

 but some of the most experienced consider five drachms 

 of powder and an ounce and a half of No. 4 chilled shot 

 a good load for a ten-bore gun; and they give the prefer- 

 ence to Ely's wire cartridges for the killing of crijiples, 

 as it is considered effective up to a hundred yards. The 

 sloops are generally anchored about a quarter of a mile 

 from the sink-boxes, and as they always keep a man on 

 the lookout, they are ready to respond to any signals 

 from the shooting parties in a few minutes. The first 

 three hours of the morning are considered equal to the 

 remainder of the day, for making a big bag, as the birds 

 are active and hungry then, and decoy readily to the nu- 

 merous lures in the water. It is a common thing for an 

 ordinary shot to kill from fifty to a hundred birds in this 

 short time, and perhaps double that number in twelve 

 hours, and as these sell at prices varying from forty cents 

 to two dollars a pair, it is evident that the wild-fowlers 

 rea]) a rich financial harvest during the open season. 



A hundred dollars a day is not an unusual sum to earn, 

 and forty and fifty dollars are quite common, if we Judge 

 by the fact that these men will not, as a rule, give their 

 boat and their own services for less than twenty dollars a 

 day to a sportsman, while some charge as high as a hun- 

 dred dollars, the average being forty dollars. In making 

 arrangements with professionals, it is best to have a 

 written agreement drawn up, and everything throughly 

 understood, else they may impose on a man, especially if 

 he has delicacy of feelings, and dislikes huckstering. The 



