270 DUCK SHOOTING 



some particular bird is about useless, and it is a 

 mere fluke if one is brought down. It is surpris- 

 ing what a lot of space there is around them. 

 Early morning is generally the best time, but not 

 always so, as they are very much influenced by the 

 wind. South-west to westerly winds with haze 

 or fog are the most favorable. On such days bags 

 of fifty to sixty or even more were the rule in the 

 old days. Since the introduction of breech-load- 

 ers and pump-guns and the great increase of po- 

 pulation and traffic on the North Shore, the num- 

 bers have decreased or the birds have gone to 

 other localities. 



Scooters are polygamous, and during the 

 mating season are easily decoyed by waving a 

 hat, black or grey, or any piece of cloth of that 

 size and color and imitating the call. Bunches of 

 ten or fifteen admirers chasing the same bird are 

 frequent, and their evolutions in the air at such 

 times are most extraordinary ; rising, falling and 

 twisting about in every possible direction. If 

 the female is brought down by a shot all the other 

 birds will follow and light with her. I was out 

 one day with the late Mr. Nazaire Turcotte of 

 Quebec, and firing into such a bunch of about fif- 

 teen, he chanced to kill the female, when the whole 

 lot came down. "Holy Ste. Anne," he exclaim- 

 ed, "I never made such a lucky shot before!" It 

 took me a few minutes to persuade him that the 

 others were unhurt. About the end of July the 



