132 WILDFOWL ON FOREST LAKES. 



Now all these places swamps, young forests, and 

 windfalls are just the spots which form the fast- 

 nesses of the forest game; for in these dense thickets 

 it would be manifestly impossible for a man to approach 

 without being heard long before he could come near, 

 and the extensive nature of some of them very often 

 makes an attempt to drive them, by the aid of men 

 or dogs, impracticable. 



Game animals also almost always take care to have 

 passes, known '. only to themselves, which exist in several 

 directions, by which they can noiselessly retreat when 

 suspicious of danger. In the swamps, however, which 

 often contain numerous small lakes and pools, hidden 

 deep in the recesses of the forest, excellent wild fowl 

 shooting may frequently be had. Many of these spots 

 are far removed from the habitations of man, and 

 consequently seldom or never disturbed by the report 

 of the fowler's gun ; and are besides, frequently of an 

 exceedingly extensive character, covering it may be 

 many square miles of ground. The time to see one 

 of these places at its best, is during the great spring 

 and autumn migrations of wild fowl, which occur pe- 

 riodically in almost every part of the world. Extensive 

 swamps, or areas of country whose surface is dotted 

 over with numerous sheets of open water, often become 

 at such times a regular sportman's Eden, where geese 

 and ducks of many kinds, and indeed almost every 

 sort of wild fowl, may be seen in countless thousands. 

 The flight lines of these birds naturally follow the course 

 of the principal water channels traversing the forest 

 region, which act as guides to direct their course. 

 The larger lakes in such localities are very generally 

 connected with each other by rivers or streams, which 



