BATTERY SHOOTING. 435 



or eight on either side, and four or five at either end. 

 The decoys tail down, as the phrase is, to the point of 

 the pear, fifty or sixty yards to leeward, where there 

 are only a few, just enough to attract the birds. 



In sinking the battery, a number of cast-iron duck 

 decoys, canvas-backs or redheads, weighing twenty-five 

 pounds each, are placed on the deck or platform. For 

 a double battery, side weights, weighing about fifty-six 

 pounds, are hung by loops on the arms running out 

 from the side of the battery. 



The gunner lies on his back in the box, with his gun 

 at his right side, the stock near his hand and the muz- 

 zle resting on the footboard of the box. Most battery 

 men use guns with 32-inch barrels, so that they will be 

 long enough to rest on the footboard. A gun with 30- 

 inch barrels is likely to slip down into the box, and so 

 to be less easily managed. A good many accidents 

 have occurred by men using guns that were too short, 

 which slipped down into the battery, and, exploding, 

 have shot ofif their feet. 



After his battery is in position, and his decoys are 

 tied out, the gunner takes his place in the box, lying 

 flat on his back, with his head raised by his pillow, or 

 headboard, high enough so that his eyes are just above 

 the edges of the box. This position enables him to 

 watch almost one-half the horizon, looking out over his 

 decoys and seeing plainly about 120 degrees of the cir- 

 cle. As his head lies to windward, the ducks will, pre- 

 sumably, swing over the tail decoys and come up from 

 the leeward to alight. As soon as he sees them he 



