BARREL-HOUSE BLIND 



them to make sure that the tubs were clean and 

 dry. I always did this before loading a gun that 

 had not been used for sometime. Then care- 

 fully loading with four drams of powder and one 

 and one-eighth ounce of No. 6 shot 1 was set 

 for whalever came along. As the sun arose 

 above the timber of the swamp and over the 

 marsh horizon like a big ball of brass, the spike- 

 tails and wegians began to fly in countless num- 

 bers. A few shots had been fired on the marsh 

 a mile or so above where I was by some camp- 

 ers on Round Grove. This put the ducks to 

 flight. It was quite interesting to watch these 

 movements among the thousands of spikes and 

 wegians. I heard the quack of two green- 

 heads. It took me some time to locate them 

 among the spike-tails and wegians. But an- 

 swering my call they decoyed nicely and as they 

 poised in the air before alighting they made an 

 easy mark and they both came tumbling down 

 at the first shot. Shortly after this a flock of 

 canvas-backs came over the decoys, leaving 



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