STUBBLE SHOOTING. 463 



Standing, and from these a good natural blind can be 

 made. In other places grain will have lodged, and, if 

 the stalks can be straightened up, this makes an excel- 

 lent blind. Or, again, if one has patience to do it, a 

 straw pile may be made in a part of the field where the 

 birds are feeding, and a blind be made in that, and if 

 not used for a few days, until the birds become accus- 

 tomed to the straw, capital shooting may be had from it. 



The pit is the best blind. It can be made to look so 

 natural that the birds come in without -the slightest 

 suspicion, and it is very much more roomy and com- 

 fortable than any other blind. A man lying flat on his 

 back in a shallow furrow has really only a limited 

 range for his gun, and whether one is on his back, his 

 knees or his face, it is hard to get up and put the gun 

 on the birds in time. 



Mr. Ned Cavileer describes a pit which he uses. It 

 is only about twelve inches deep, long enough to lie 

 down in, and is lined with boards to keep the dirt from 

 falling in. The boards are carefully fitted and are held 

 in place by hooks and staples, or sometimes three of 

 the boards may be hinged together, so as to close up 

 and be convenient for carrying. There are two boards, 

 one each for the head and foot, and two for the sides. 



On the stubbles, mallards seem ready to decoy to 

 almost anything. Goose decoys are better than ducks, 

 because they are larger and can be seen at a great dis- 

 tance. Mallards will come readily to snow-goose de- 

 coys. The pintail also readily comes to goose decoys, 

 and no others are needed. 



