4IO DUCK SHOOTING. 



it to the blind ; others, after bringing them ashore, will 

 bite their birds badly, or will carry them into the marsh 

 and leave them there. I have heard of a dog that got 

 tired and refused to go for his birds ; but, being forced 

 to go out, swam back to the marsh with the bird, car- 

 ried it into the cane, and after being gone a long time 

 returned to the blind with his paws and nose quite 

 muddy. A search in the marsh by the boatman re- 

 vealed the fact that he had carried the duck a little way 

 in from the shore, and had then dug a hole and buried 

 it so completely that only one wing and the legs showed 

 above the earth he had heaped on it. 



These dogs, like any others, require careful handling 

 by a judicious trainer, and in addition, as they are great, 

 strong animals, they require a great amount of work. 

 A properly trained dog, however, is an indispensable 

 adjunct to the point shooter, and will save him a great 

 number of birds in a season. 



The birds which pass over or stop on the marsh are 

 its most obvious inhabitants ; but there are many others 

 which the casual visitor scarcely ever sees. Of these 

 the largest are the half-wild horses, cattle and hogs 

 turned out to winter by their owners. They feed 

 among the tall cane, and only now and then come to the 

 water's edge to drink or to eat the succulent water 

 plants that drift against the shore. 



With these animals the struggle for existence must 

 be a severe one ; for, to one accustomed to the pastures 

 of the North or West it would seem that there is little 

 or nothing to eat on the marsh. Of course, vegetation 



