SHORE-SHOOTING 95 



perfection is claimed. The modulation of notes, their lengths, 

 and reed-tones are easily mastered by the apt learner, but the 

 ventriloquial effects are not. 



The most effective manner of producing this special calling 



is to whistle softly, and lower the head to mimic distance for 



the "all in order — approach " calls, and to raise the head and 



pipe clearly for what sound as the close-at-hand signal pipes. 



My notes here chiefly refer to curlew calling. It must be noted 



that, although I have chosen the corncrake to instance my 



meaning, its use of ventriloquism is to deceive the intruder 



without alarm to its kind, whereas in the case of shore-birds it 



is adopted to impress or convey something they are unable to 



say otherwise. I cannot go further, but I do know that in 



using similar methods of calling, lies one of the main secrets in 



shore-bird and wildfowl calling. A proof that the finer arts of 



calling birds in our isles have not been much studied, or at all 



ivents much perfected, may be fairly instanced by the fact that 



lout of the very small proportion of shore-gunners who do call, 



[not 10 per cent., in the ears of an expert, can be deemed 



Iperfect. Whether the expert can judge as well as the birds 



■themselves, may be considered a mystery never to be solved, but 



lit is enough to say that if the practised ear cannot detect a flaw 



[or difference the artist may be termed as at least near the mark. 



Just one suggestion before concluding my remarks on 



[calling. Always strive to keep your calling fingers clean and 



[dry. Not only is it nasty and unwholesome to dab in your 



louth fingers wet and muddy, but remember that salt water 



[will soon cause blisters, resulting in scabs. These readily heal, 



[but they prevent further calling. A soft handkerchief to wipe 



jthe fingers must not be forgotten. Of course, it is impossible 



Ito avoid wetting the fingers when taking a bird retrieved from 



Ithe water from a dog's mouth, but drying them is quite possible. 



[I emphasise this point because some of my readers will wish 



tto learn calling. 



