WINTER FOWLING 



coast, though scarcely a zephyr may be stirring, there 

 may, nevertheless, be a heavy ground-swell. And then 

 you must take aim from a dancing platform, and make 

 your flying practice by knack or instinct. Imagine a 

 man shooting grouse on a drive as he balanced himself 

 on the oscillations of a see-saw, and you have a mode 

 rate notion of the chances of sea-fowling under circum- 

 stances that are fairly favourable. 



Then for the requisites in point of constitutional 

 hardihood. Mild weather saddens the fowler's heart, 

 and his spirits go up with the fall of the thermometer. 

 It is indispensable that he should dress himself warmly, 

 yet, for his own sake, he must not make his wrappings 

 too cumbersome. He will have to crawl or worm 

 himself along when making his stalk, and yet he may 

 have to lie perdu for minutes or half-hours, more or 

 less, without moving a muscle. Even in a boat he 

 must not so over-hamper himself with top gear as to 

 prevent the heavy gun coming easily to his shoulder ; 

 and yet a bitter wind blowing off the sea or the salt 

 marshes may be searching his marrow through pea- 

 jacket and jersey. Keeping the feet dry is out of the 

 question ; and his only certainty about the best pair of 

 waterproof wading-boots is, that they will infallibly 

 doom the wearer to partial immersion. Gloves, as 

 everybody knows, are sadly in the way when it comes 

 to fingering a lightly-set pair of triggers ; and half- 

 frozen feet and half-frost-nipped fingers must trouble 

 the calm pleasures of expectancy. 



The successful wild-fowl shooter must necessarily 



