92 THE STICK-NAT. 



again to ' lacka.' The old hen rarely takes wing on these 

 occasions, and whilst running towards the man, is pretty 

 certain to get enveloped in the folds of the net, of which 

 fact he is surely made aware, either by her call-note 

 suddenly ceasing, or by her responding to his ' lack ' from 

 the same spot. 



" When the old bird is made captive, she is placed by 

 the fowler in a small coop, constructed of hazel or other 

 wands ; and after he has arranged the nets in the form of 

 a little square, and placed the coop in the middle of it, 

 he once more conceals himself, and begins to ' lacka.' 

 Though the bird is now a prisoner, she seldom allows 

 much time to elapse before responding to the man, and 

 if he has sufficient patience, will not cease doing so 

 until the whole of her progeny are likewise captured. 

 If the fowler be mercifully inclined," Ekstrom goes 

 on to say, " he will release the old hen and two of the 

 poults, in which case he will be certain the following year 

 to find a brood in the same locality." 



During the winter, again, the Black-Cock is frequently 

 shot whilst embedded in the snow ; for the gunner, observ- 

 ing a slight depression in the latter, and it may be a little 

 discoloration also, occasioned by the bird lying but a 

 little beneath the surface, aims at the spot, and often 

 with deadly effect. I was assured by my chasseur, Dig, 

 that he had thus killed very many Black-Cork. 



Though I myself never shot these birds when beneath 

 the snow, yet I have not unfrequently done so just 

 as they have emerged from it; for, warned by the 

 sudden apparition of one or other of the "pack" that 

 has llo\vn up near me, and expecting others to follow, I 

 have divested my i;mi of its ease, and knocked o\ er tin- 

 next that made its appearance. Most commonly, how- 

 ev r. the whole of the "pack" had taken wing before I 

 a- in readiness to tire. 



