INLAND AND ON THE SHORE 75 



To achieve success at flight-time, the sportsman 

 must closely study his ground and the habits of the 

 birds. Let me give two or three examples, which are 

 well worth the necessary space. There is a stretch of 

 country over which the gunner has liberty to range. 

 To the partridge- shooter, who is at home when flight- 

 time begins, and who takes no practical interest 

 in wild-fowling, the district, as concerns duck, tells 

 nothing. For the duck-shooter, however, there may 

 be much to learn. He wanders over the stubbles 

 in search of traces of his quarry. At last he finds 

 a feather, unmistakably the feather of a mallard. 

 Further examination reveals further evidence : duck 

 feed there. Accordingly he makes a pit or blind, and 

 at flight-time meets with his reward. The nearest 

 water is a field-corner pond. Here also feathers are 

 found, proving that duck use the water after feeding, 

 and warranting the gunner in his conclusion that sport 

 will be had if at a suitable time he conceals himself 

 in a position commanding the water. If the flight- 

 shooter's stand is to be in the track of the birds, that 

 is, at some point between their daytime resting-place 

 and their feeding-ground, he must ascertain by experi- 

 ence what lines are taken by them. On any mile of 

 shore there are always, according to my own experi- 

 ence, just one or two spots over which at flight-time 



