512 DUCK SHOOTING. 



it from whose side it comes, and he should have the op- 

 portunity to use both barrels before his companion 

 shoots. If the ducks come constantly from one side, 

 as often they will come from the leeward, turns should 

 be taken on the single birds. If they come from the lee- 

 ward, the man to leeward should kill first, but if this is 

 followed by another single, he should sit back in the 

 blind and let the windward man kill the duck. Of 

 course, in case of a miss with both barrels, the man who 

 has not shot is at liberty to do what he can toward kill- 

 ing the bird. If two or three, or more, birds come up 

 to the decoys, from any quarter, the man who is to lee- 

 ward should shoot the bird or birds on his side, and the 

 man to windward those on his. 



Sometimes three birds will come up, let us say, from 

 the leeward ; the leading bird would naturally be taken 

 by the windward man, while the man to leeward would 

 take the second one, and the third would be anybody's 

 bird. A natural exclamation from the leeward man 

 would be, under such circumstances, "You take the 

 one in the lead !" but before the birds get up to the point 

 where they would be shot at, the bird which was lead- 

 ing may have dropped back to second place. In such a 

 case there is a possibility of a misunderstanding, for, 

 if the windward man imagined that his companion 

 referred to the individual duck that was in the lead, 

 and which is now in second place, both men may shoot 

 at this duck. Of course, no such blunder should ever 

 occur. When one speaks of the leading duck he does 

 not mean the particular duck that is leading at that 



