WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 263 



The methods of hunting wild fowl in general nse require the 

 exercise of considerable ingenuity and knowledge of the habits of 

 the different species, their feeding places, and favorite food. Their 

 extreme wariness and the necessity of finding the game without 

 the help of dogs, retrieving being the only help afforded by them, 

 add much to the labor and excitement of the sport. The ground, 

 or rather the water, where the fowl abound, is generally inland 

 rivers and ponds, bordered by reedy marshes and the tidal flats of 

 estuaries. There is scarcely a river or marsh in the country East 

 or West, or North or South, where ducks of some variety or other 

 are not found at some season of the year, and sometimes in fabu- 

 lous numbers. The opening of the spring and the fall are the 

 sporting seasons The birds are taken either by means of decoys, 

 or by awaiting their passage over a place of ambush in which the 

 hunter is concealed. A boat is generally used, else the labor of 

 wading through the marshes and picking roundabout paths to 

 avoid deep sloughs is intolerable. 



Sometimes two persons hunt in company, yet at a distance from 

 each other, one driving the birds towards the other, and the latter 

 driving them back again. In this way many heavy bags are pro- 

 cured. Blinds or screens are provided, behind which the hunter 

 keeps himself concealed until the moment when the game are 

 within range of his gun. These blinds are made in various ways. 

 Full information for their construction is given in the volume 

 by J. W. Long, entitled " American Wild-fowl Shooting." 



Decoys are employed to allure the passing flocks or stragglers to 

 alight, being placed in such positions as are habitually chosen by 

 the fowl. These decoys are mostly selected for the deep-water vari- 

 ties, which can not be so well approached as those which haunt 

 the ponds, rivers, and marshes, from the banks of which, screened 

 from observation behind his blind, the hunter can easily reach the 

 approaching game. Decoys of various kinds are used. Those 

 made of pine, and thoroughly coated with priming of raw oil, 

 are to be preferred, as they are light and durable. The main thing 

 in the decoy is to have it as natural as possible in form and color, 

 and so built up and weighted that it will sit steadily in the water 



