564 FOREST, FIELD, AND PRAIRIE. 



will allow them to go. They soon learn not to throw themselves 

 down by vain struggles, and when this by chance occurs a little 

 slacking up of the coy line enables them to recover their feet. 

 Where two pairs of geese are to be placed out in the same direc- 

 tion, keep one materially shorter than the other, to avoid tan- 

 gling. The decoy geese may be advantageously accustomed to 

 the restraint of the fetters at home weeks before using on 

 the bar. 



Squaivker for Duck Shooting. — Take a tube of bamboo cane, 

 about three-fourths of an inch inside diameter and from four to 

 eight inches long ; a plug about three inches long is fitted to one 

 end, and after being split in two, one-half is grooved to within a 

 quarter of an inch of its smaller end, the groove being perhaps a 

 quarter of an inch wide and of the same depth. The tongue is a 

 very thin piece of sheet brass, which should be hammered to in- 

 crease its elasticity ; it should be about two and a half inches long 

 and from three-eighths to half an inch wide. At one end, which 

 should be thinner than the other, the corners should be rounded. 

 The tongue is then placed over the grooved half, the round end 

 nearly to the extreme smaller end of the plug, and the tongue 

 completely covering the groove. The other half of the plug 

 should be shortened about an inch and a half from its smaller end 

 and then being placed on the grooved part, thus holding the tongue 

 fast, both should be pushed firmly in the tube. By blowing in the 

 other end of the tube the call is produced ; some little practice 

 and experience is necessary to use correctly. You should pay par- 

 ticular attention to the different notes of wild fowl as well as the 

 occasions of them being made, whether as a call, a note of welcome 

 or a note of suspicion. 



Turkey Calls. — Make a little box of Spanish cedar two and one- 

 half inches long ; three-fourths to seven-eightfts deep, and one 

 inch wide. Cut a piece of smooth slate so that it will lie nicely in 

 the bottom of the box ; have the top smooth and even, and no 

 rosin will be needed. Make the box of the same material through- 

 out, and put together with brass pins. Brads or glue spoil the 

 sound, not giving sufficient vibration. If made from pieces of 

 cigar box, be sure that no paper remains on the box, and use the 

 thinnest portions. Another call consists of a short piece of Span- 



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