INLAND AND ON THE SHORE 73 



there, and can be handled in a moment and when 

 one can make out duck through a glass, one is already 

 half-way on the road to success. For portability, 

 convenience, and effectiveness combined, there is 

 nothing equal to a i2-power prismatic monocular. 

 The daylight duck-shooter should keep a constant 

 watch for birds on the wing, a thing which practice 

 leads him to do almost instinctively. If duck be 

 seen coming towards him, he should take cover in- 

 stantly, or, failing cover, throw himself on his back, 

 snatching a handful of herbage or litter to cover his 

 face, and then hiding his hands. He must not stir a 

 muscle till he springs up to take his shot. Should 

 duck not be seen until they are within a few hundred 

 yards, it is better to stand motionless than to stoop or 

 lie down. 



The duck- shooter on the shore does not often 

 expect sport by day except during hard frost or while 

 there is a gale for, in still, open weather the birds 

 will be securely resting at sea though now and again, 

 of course, one may find a duck or two in the creeks. 

 When frost has lasted long enough to close inland 

 waters, the birds being then driven to the shore for 

 their livelihood, he may often have capital sport if he 

 engages in the rough work of walking the creeks, or 

 if he stalks or lies in wait for his quarry by the fringe 



