INLAND AND ON THE SHORE 83 



than in any other kind of shooting, the gunner is 

 handicapped if unaccustomed to shoot with both 

 eyes open. He sees comparatively indistinctly; his 

 ability to gauge distance is gone the instant his left 

 eye is shut, and in that infinitesimal space of time in 

 which he has so often to act, his right eye alone can- 

 not tell him whether the bird is twenty yards away or 

 forty. The thick feathering of duck often acts effec- 

 tively as a buffer to the shot when birds are coming 

 head on to the sportsman, or when passing over him. 

 For this reason, when one is shooting in a good light, 

 duck should not be shot at till they have passed 

 above or by the gunner. In a bad light one would 

 not, of course, ever think of doing otherwise than 

 firing the instant a chance offered itself, and without 

 ever considering whether the birds were coming or 

 going. I advise, however, as the exception to the 

 rule of not shooting at duck till they have passed ; 

 that, when birds are coming low and straight for the 

 gunner, he should fire at the leader when it reaches a 

 range say, between twenty and twenty-five yards at 

 which it is certain to be stopped by a correctly placed 

 charge. In most cases the other birds will tower at 

 the shot, and then, if the shooter watches for his 

 chance and instantly takes advantage of it when it 



