404 DUCK SHOOTING. 



when a little flock is flying across at a distance, they 

 can be called to the decoys by an imitation of their note, 

 which is something like that of the blackhead — a gut- 

 tural, grating croak. 



The male hairy crown is a beautiful bird, with his 

 elaborate livery of black, white, tan and delicate gray, 

 but as hairy crowns are commonly regarded as worth- 

 less for eating, they are often allowed to pass unharmed 

 by the gunner unless he is shooting for count, when he 

 will try to knock down those that come to him, as each 

 one retrieved counts as a duck. 



The red-breasted merganser is much less common 

 here than the hooded, but occasionally drops in among 

 the decoys. Its local name is sawbill. The goosander 

 I have never seen here, nor do the men with whom I 

 have talked about it appear to know the bird. 



During much of the day the music and clamor of the 

 geese, softened by distance, fall upon the gunner's ear. 

 It may be that in some channel not far from him great 

 numbers of these birds are resting on the water, talking 

 to each other, and often flocks of traveling birds pass 

 up and down the sound, calling to each other or an- 

 swering the salutations of other birds at rest. Often 

 too a sailboat, passing through a great raft of geese, 

 will put all the birds on the wing, and they rise in a 

 thick cloud of dark specks against the sky, looking like 

 a swarm of bees. When these birds have been so dis- 

 turbed they often break up into small companies and fly 

 here and there in different directions, seeking new 

 resting places. 



