440 DUCK SHOOTING. 



sary to take up, the sloop is anchored close at hand, the 

 battery-man, and his possessions, transferred to the 

 sloop, and then the men take up the decoys, bring the 

 battery alongside, and, rolling up the head fender, take 

 it on the sloop's deck. 



During each season, of course, there will be many 

 days when the water is so rough that a battery cannot 

 live in it, and, on such days, which are usually the best 

 for gunning, the battery-man must stay on board his 

 sloop. There will be other days, perhaps, when the 

 sound is frozen, and it is impossible to tie out in a bat- 

 tery. On the whole, therefore, the number of birds 

 secured in this manner is not so great as might be sup- 

 posed; but, as stated elsewhere, it is a destructive 

 means of shooting, because, usually, the battery is tied 

 out on the feeding grounds, and because, commonly, 

 the sloop, or sail boat, is constantly moving about, driv- 

 ing the birds from their resting places, in the hope 

 that they may go to the stools near the battery. Many 

 years ago, in Chesapeake Bay, it is recorded, a gunner, 

 shooting from a battery, with two guns, killed, in one 

 day, over 500 ducks ; and there is a more recent record 

 of one man who killed 300 birds in a day. 



Battery shooting is very attractive sport, and, under 

 favorable circumstances, yields large bags. 



SHOOTING FROM A HOUSE-BOAT. 



To be practiced successfully, house-boat shooting re- 

 quires special conditions, and these conditions exist on 



