146 THE COMPLETE WILDFOWLER 



prevent or delay your return, you are prepared. Do not 

 neglect to use a thermos flask. No smoking when wildfowling 

 is an order often heard propounded. As long as one does 

 not allow smoking to interfere with or lose chances of sport, 

 we are of opinion it little matters to the fowl. 



A thing to be noted when afloat off" a large expanse of tidal 

 shore is the change which sometimes occurs in the atmosphere. 

 On days with a slight haze hanging round, and when the 

 wind suddenly puffs up, and as suddenly dies down to an 

 absolute calm, atmospheric changes are, probably, the most 

 readily discerned. Fix your eye on an object about half 

 a mile away. One hour it will appear to be a hundred 

 yards off ; another hour a couple of miles. These are 

 conditions to be remembered, for, unnoticed, they are 

 very deceiving, and may lead you astray. Another at- 

 mospheric illusion is a mirage. At such times far-off 

 objects appear high, as if above the horizon, and nearer 

 objects are almost invisible until quite close. During such 

 times good shots at fowl are often secured. A mirage, as it 

 is locally called, is said to be a sure sign of rough weather, or 

 in other words, the calm before the storm. 



