328 WILDFOWL SHOOTING, 



Wigeon are never so readily disturbed by hearing 

 a noise as by smelling or seeing : in both of which 

 they are very quick ; though, in the latter, less so 

 than many other birds. Sea pheasants and teal are 

 sometimes with them. 



On the Dorsetshire coast, the shooters' terms for a 

 large flock of wigeon are a company ; for about thirty 

 or forty, a bunch or trip of birds ; and, for about ten 

 or twelve, a little knob : a string or skein of geese, 

 and other such provincial appellations. They also 

 call a creek a lake ; and the smaller creeks, or drains, 

 latches. The former is a general term among people 

 on the coast ; but the latter, in the neighbourhood of 

 Lymington, is called a " spreader." 



If we can neither find a creek nor a " latch," with 

 sufficient water to set up to birds, it is sometimes 

 thought necessary to put the canoe in one of the 

 latter, and there await the return of the tide, with 

 which we may gradually approach them, as the water 

 flows. But if this advance cannot be made under an 

 hour or two, we may as well go away; and, if no 

 better chance should offer, return to the place when 

 the tide has risen to within one or two hundred 

 yards of the birds, instead of waiting idle for so long 

 a time. 



Here, unless disturbed, they will remain, as long 

 as the tide allows them a place to stand on ; and, as 

 the mud begins to disappear, will concentrate them- 

 selves on the last uncovered spot ; where, to use the 

 words of a gunner, as soon as the water begins to 



