528 DUCK SHOOTING. 



live decoys, as does also an article published in Forest 

 and Stream, by Mr. J. O. Phillips, on duck shooting in 

 Massachusetts : 



There is a certain charm about shooting in a thickly 

 settled region which one does not get anywhere else. 

 The game is scarce and hard to circumvent, and when 

 a pair or two of shy old black ducks are successfully 

 brought to bag, the satisfaction is often greater than 

 the killing of ten times the number in a more favor- 

 able locality. 



The season is late October. For two days a north- 

 wester has been doing its best to remove the few re- 

 maining leaves, until at last the wind has died away 

 and the evening is calm and wonderfully clear. It is 

 likely to be the coldest night of the season, and we go 

 to bed in the best of spirits, almost certain of a shot 

 in the morning. 



It is just beginning to lighten a little as we close the 

 farmhouse door behind us and emerge into the breath- 

 less stillness of the early morning. The watch-dog 

 ambles up, then wags his tail, turns about and disap- 

 pears in the gloom of the yard. How hard the ground 

 feels, and what a noise each leaf makes under our feet 

 as we walk briskly toward the lake. 



Long streaks of pink and gray appear in the east, 

 but look closer and note that little speck against the 

 sky as it glides downward across a bright band of or- 

 ange light and drops lower and lower until it vanishes 

 toward the lake. Ducks, twelve or fifteen at least, and 

 we set our teeth and walk harder. 



