70 ONTAEIO. 



and night, and their line of flight ; he must also under- 

 stand many devices by which to circumvent them. Even 

 to get a pot-shot at ducks requires the most careful stalk- 

 ing. I know of no deer or other animal so hard to ap- 

 proach as a flock of black ducks on a lake or pond ; a 

 hundred eyes are on the watch and a hundred ears are 

 listening, and I even think they can wind a man. Even 

 the actual shooting is an art of itself ; it is quite different 

 from snipe, cock, or partridge shooting ; in fact, I am 

 inclined to think that the one spoils a man for the other. 

 In wild-fowl shooting one must necessarily follow one's 

 bird and calculate how far to fire ahead of him. This 

 does not answer at all for snipe, cock, or general shooting. 

 In flight shooting it requires a long experience to know 

 exactly when a bird is in range, and what allowance to 

 make for the speed of his flight. I have seen excellent 

 shots at general game signally fail at wild fowl, and vice 

 versa. 



Elsewhere I have alluded to the absence of animal life 

 to be met with in Canada in winter. The swamps and 

 lake shores present a total contrast to this in the spring 

 and fall of the year. The sportsman in his canoe, hid 

 away in the long grass, by the edge of a lake, need never 

 be lonely in a fine autumnal evening. The ducks, sweep- 

 ing round their feeding ground with outstretched necks, 

 chiefly occupy his attention ; but if they give him a few 

 minutes' leisure, he can watch the musquash hauling 

 rushes to his house, and listen to him paddling in the 

 mud. Great flocks of the " field-officer bird," or red- 

 winged starling (Agelaius Phoeniceus), alight chattering 

 on the reeds around him. The osprey (Pandion Caro- 



