148 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



secured by a pulley, an endless line is run under 

 the water to the shooting-stand on shore. To 

 the line are then fastened a score or more tame 

 ducks by a light string attached to their feet. 



The operation of the contrivance is simple. A 

 man on shore pulls the ducks by means of the 

 pulley out toward the center post, where they 

 begin to feed on grain already scattered for 

 them. Not many minutes elapse before their ac- 

 tivities attract some passing wild flock which 

 immediately settles around them. The line is 

 now gently manipulated. The tame birds drift 

 slowly toward shore followed by the wild ones. 

 Presently they arrive within gunshot of the 

 blind. The gunners leap to their feet ; there is a 

 wild splashing on the water, the wild ducks take 

 wing, and the shooting is on. 



Still a further method of decoying water-fowl 

 within reach of the gun is by utilizing tame geese 

 which will fly out to a flock and lead them to the 

 shooting-stand. This is a modern form of sport 

 coming into great popularity along parts of the 

 New England coast where wild geese are still 

 numerous in the shooting season. So fascinating 

 is it that the sportsman often forgets to slay the 

 victims, in his interest in the performance of his 

 trained flock. 



The flying of geese is undertaken in somewhat 

 the following fashion: some distance from the 

 shooting-stand, and also at the edge of the estuary, 



