FOWL SHOOTING. " 139 



ducks, and with a heavy gun he fired into it. Many were killed, 

 and those that flew soon returned, and were again and again 

 shot at, till fearful that he was injuring those already his own, 

 he ceased the massacre, and brought on shore ninety-two ducks, 

 most of which were Canvass-backs. 



"To prevent the dogs from running in whilst toling, they are 

 not allowed to bring out the Ducks, but another breed of large 

 dogs of the Newfoundland and Water-Spaniel mixture are em- 

 ployed. These animals, whilst toling is in progression, or at a 

 point, take apparently as much interest in success as the sports- 

 man himself During a flight, their eyes are incessantly occu- 

 pied in watching from whence the birds come ; and I have fre- 

 quently seen them indicate by their manner, the approach of a 

 flock, so distant that the human eye would have overlooked it. 

 As the Ducks come on, the dog lies down, but still closely ob- 

 serving them, and the moment the discharge occurs, jumps up 

 to see the effect. If a Duck falls dead, they plunge to bring it ; 

 but many of them wait to see how he falls, and whether he 

 swims ; and they seem to be as aware as the gunner, of the im- 

 probability of capture, and will not make the attempt, knowing 

 from experience that a bird merely winged, will generally save 

 himself by swimming and diving. These dogs usually bring 

 one Duck at a time out of the water ; but a real Newfoundland, 

 who was with me and my company this autumn, was seen on 

 several occasions to swim twenty yards further, and take a se- 

 cond in the mouth to carry on shore. The indefatigability and 

 ambition of these animals are remarkable, and a gentleman in- 

 formed me he had known his dog bring, in the space of one 

 hour, twenty Canvass-backs and three Swans from the water, 

 when the weather was so severe that the animal was covered 

 with icicles, and to prevent his freezing, he took his great coat 

 to envelope him. Some dogs will dive a considerable distance 

 after a Due'", but a crippled Canvass-back, or Black-head, will 

 swim so far imder the water, that they rarely can be caught by 

 the dog; and it often has been observed, that the moment one 

 of these Ducks, if merely winged, reaches the surface, he passes 



