WILD-FOWLING AFLOAT BY NIGHT 201 



the manners and habits of wild-fowl are absolutely 

 essential for the night punter. In Mr. Folkard's able 

 and instructive work, ' The Wild-Fowler,' there is a 

 chapter on the ' Language of Wild-fowl ' in which the 

 author gives admirable advice on this point. He 

 says : 



The fowler should be able to know by the talk of the 

 birds whether he may approach them without exciting 

 suspicion, when he is suspected, and when they have 

 thrown off their alarm. It may require years of experi- 

 ence to become familiar with these signs and expressions, 

 but when once learnt the punter reaps his reward in the 

 extra success which attends his exertions. 



With regard to the particular conditions under 

 which fowl seem most accessible at night, everything 

 depends on the state of the tides, wind, and moon. 

 Old punters know perfectly well that there is a right 

 and a wrong moment to stalk fowl at night, even as 

 by day. Widgeon, and other birds of the duck tribe, 

 do not usually pack on the sides of creeks and chan- 

 nels at night, so they must be sought for on the 

 shallows when the tide recedes from the mudbanks, 

 or when it again flows slowly over them. During the 

 period that the mudbanks lie exposed by the tide, 

 although one may hear them calling in all directions, 

 it is almost impossible to see birds on these dreary 



