112 FIELD NOTES FOR THE YEAR. 



similar things happened to me one day whilst I was wild-fowl 

 shooting. I shot at a mallard, a considerable distance from 

 me, and evidently struck him, as after flying some distance to 

 the windward he pitched in a grass field : but on my approach 

 he rose again and went at a great height down wind towards 

 the sea. I happened to keep my glass on him, and when he 

 was about a quarter of a mile off I saw him turn over in the 

 air and fall. On coming up to the place I found the bird 

 quite alive, but with his wing broken close to the body. The 

 shot must have struck the bone without breaking it. The 

 singular part of the affair was that the bird could battle 

 against strong wind for at least a quarter of a mile without 

 the injured bone giving way. In the evening we went to wait 

 at a pool for ducks. Just as it got dark a rushing noise was 

 heard, and a pair of "swans skimmed rapidly over the old 

 keeper's head, and pitched in the water, making a monstrous 

 wave. They did not see us, and immediately began to feed. 

 It was getting dark, and the old man, not wishing to lose a 

 chance, got up from his hiding place and ran quickly to the 

 water's edge, firing both barrels at the largest bird as it flew 

 away. His gun was only loaded with No. 3, and the distance, 

 as we afterwards found, was above forty yards. Both the 

 swans flew on for some distance, until we suddenly saw the 

 wing of one give way, and down came the bird into the pool, 

 which was of considerable size, although shallow. I had left 

 my retriever at home to rest, and before I could stop him, in 

 went the old man, and then began a chase which I have 

 seldom seen equalled. Although the water was shallow, the 

 bottom was uneven ; and every minute down went Donald 

 head foremost. I called to him to let me shoot the bird, and 

 leave it to drift to the shore ; but all in vain. On he went, 

 tumbling over and over, and the swan swimming and struggling 

 in the water close to him, making an immense splashing and 

 noise. They got quite away from me ; and I had nothing left 

 but to sit down and watch the chase as well as I could 

 through the approaching darkness. At last he hemmed the 

 bird into a rushy corner of the loch, and caught her. But 

 this was no sooner done, than the swan, by her flapping and 

 struggling, tripped him up, and got away again, leaving her 

 antagonist flat in the water. Then, and not till then, he 

 began to load his gun, which he had to my great wonderment 

 contrived to carry all the time high over his head ; but. of 

 course, notwithstanding all his care, it had got quite wet and 



