LIVE DECOYS. 527 



very special attention has been paid to the question 

 of live decoys. Not only are birds used in connec- 

 tion with the ordinary wooden decoys, being tethered 

 in the ordinary fashion either in shoal water or on the 

 shore, but beside this, birds are so trained that they 

 may be turned loose to wander among the decoys at 

 will, or may even be thrown from the blind up into 

 the air to fly short distances, and then to alight 

 among the decoys. As already stated, at Silver Lake, 

 in Massachusetts, the various clubs possess hundreds of 

 live goose decoys, of which a large proportion are so 

 well trained that they are thrown into the air. Some 

 account of the methods pursued there is given in the 

 chapter on goose shooting. 



At one club they tie out about 70 geese on the beach. 

 These birds are always on the watch, and their calling 

 is likely to attract any wild birds that come within 

 sight. If the wild geese do not come readily to the 

 decoys, the pens in which the geese are kept are opened 

 by pulling a line, and the necessary number of birds 

 for the work in hand are set free and used as fliers. 

 This method of decoymg the wild birds is extremely 

 successful. It is the practice to allow the wild birds 

 to swim in near to the decoys, and then to fire one 

 barrel at them on the water and the other as they rise. 

 When there are four or five men in the stand, the 

 result of this is likely to be the destruction of the whole 

 flock, unless it is a large one. 



Mr. Townsend's account of houseboat shooting on 

 Lake Champlain shows how black ducks are used as 



