IS6 DUCK SHOOTING. 



a little by the keen frost, a curious sound — like that 

 made by a river running over the pebbles of a shallow — 

 came to his ear. It recalled to the veteran salmon 

 angler the murmur of the Restigouche as through forest 

 and open and deep pool and murmuring shoal it hurries 

 on its way to the Bay of Chaleurs. He wondered what 

 could cause this sound in this place, and above all on 

 such a night, and, walking down to the boat house, 

 passed through it and stood on the dock. Here the ex- 

 planation of the sound was plain. The air holes which 

 during the day had enlarged were crowded with feeding 

 canvas-backs, and the murmur of the water was neither 

 more nor less than the splashing made by the fowl as 

 they dived for food. 



"The freeze lasted for some days longer. The birds 

 were abundant ; but the weather, clear, windless and 

 toward the last warm, was much against the gunning, 

 since the fowl did not fly. Nevertheless one or two men 

 at different times had good shooting — some of them 

 better than they had ever enjoyed before or expect ever 

 to have again. This shooting was largely at canvas- 

 backs, since very few common ducks were shot. The 

 freeze having closed their feeding grounds, they sat 

 about on the ice, unwary and inert, waiting till the 

 waters should open again, and in the meantime starv- 

 ing. Under such circumstances no one cared to kill 

 them. On the other hand, the canvas-backs taken were 

 unusually heavy and fine birds. 



"Across the sound, on the waters of a neighboring 

 club, very great shooting was enjoyed, though they se- 



