WINTER FOWLING 325 



be an enthusiast ; but we believe that most gentlemen 

 who take to the sport, follow it more or less in 

 dillettante fashion. That is the experience of Mr. 

 Colquhoun, the veteran author of " The Moor and the 

 Loch," who observes that the rustic who has only the 

 single barrel of an old-fashioned weapon to depend 

 upon, grudges no expenditure of patience in the attain- 

 ment of his ends. He has familiarised himself with the 

 haunts and habits of the wild-fowl, and lays himself out 

 deliberately to circumvent the birds. He watches for 

 a pot-shot, dwells deliberately on .his aim, and, for the 

 most part, does damage proportionate to the pains 

 he takes. While the gentleman, somewhat impatient 

 of delays and inconveniences, and trusting to the 

 killing powers of his tool, with the reserve of a second 

 barrel, often scares the birds in his rash approaches, or 

 fires too precipitately at an excessive range. Mr. Col- 

 quhoun's advice for wild-fowl shooting on inland 

 lakes, is as simple as it will be found to be satis- 

 factory. After expatiating on the birds' quickness of 

 hearing, &c., recording his observations as to their 

 keenness of scent, and counselling the sportsman as 

 to his equipments, he tells him how the stalk may be 

 most surely accomplished. When you have detected 

 the birds you propose to try for, take their bearings 

 exactly by marks upon the shore in relation to another 

 placed further inland. Then make a detour to come 

 unperceived behind the inner mark. From that of 

 course the final approaches have to be made, with an 

 astuteness even greater, if possible, than that which is 



