

CRIPPLE SHOOTING. 425 



those of the geese species, swans, or diving ducks, 

 always to seawards, or to the nearest deep water, where 

 they are most expert in diving and swimming; while 

 the other birds of the duck tribe, including waders of 

 all sorts, make at once for the shallows or the land, 

 where they hide themselves in the nearest cover, 

 whether of grass, water reeds, or bushes. Almost the 

 only time a wounded duck of this class will put out 

 towards the deep water, is when he wants to cross it, 

 and land on the opposite bank as for instance in a 

 pond or river so that he may be separated from his 

 assailant by the breadth of the water. If it is a small 

 sheet of water, by beating up the edges an hour or 

 two after wounding a duck, the sportsman can often 

 succeed in bagging an escaped cripple. 



It is a curious fact that the feathers of a badly 

 wounded bird no longer seem capable of turning water ; 

 in the case of dead birds especially, the water penetrates 

 completely through the feathers to the skin, soaking 

 the bird thoroughly. This opens up the curious ques- 

 tion as to how the feathers of aquatic fowl cast off the 

 water, and so keep the birds quite dry, while floating 

 upon the waves, even of a stormy sea. 



And popularly it is always taken for granted 

 that the feathers of aquatic fowl are rendered imper- 

 vious to water because of a species of natural oil, 

 with which they are lubricated; and there can be no 

 doubt that their feathers are to a certain extent oily; 

 but we apprehend from the fact that a dead bird's 

 plumage ceases to resist the entrance of water, some 

 other cause than the mere oily nature of the feathers 

 must operate to cast off water, during life. Mr. St. John, 

 an acute observer of Natural History, and sporting 



