HOW TO HOLD. 503 



ellipse. From this ellipsoid, which may be twenty feet 

 in length and three or four feet in diameter at its 

 widest part, pellets of shot are continually dropping. 

 The space covered by this shot and the shape taken 

 by it, while, of course, never quite the same for 

 any two gun barrels, is at all events a large one, 

 and it would seem that no bird at which it was 

 discharged could get away, if the gun were held 

 reasonably straight. But we all know that they do 

 get away. 



One of the most difficult things in the world is to 

 learn how to hold on your ducks and when to draw the 

 trigger. A great deal has been written on this subject, 

 but to very little purpose. We are told that you should 

 shoot one, two, three, or ten feet ahead of your bird, 

 but when the bird is darting by like the wind, at an un- 

 known distance, how is any man to estimate a distance 

 ahead of him in feet? It may be doubted if it can be 

 done. If birds are coming gently to decoys, or are fly- 

 ing toward the gunner, head on, the gun should be 

 aimed slightly in front of the bird, and then moved 

 ahead just at the moment of pulling the trigger, in or- 

 der that the bird may fly into the charge and be struck 

 by the centre of it ; but a crossing bird, perhaps going 

 with the wind, or flying overhead in calm weather, pro- 

 ceeds at such a rate that no elaborate calculation of feet 

 or inches can be made. The best the beginner can do 

 is to hold well ahead of the bird, trying to gauge his 

 shooting by the effect, holding further and further 

 ahead,, until at last he manages to kill. He must learn 



