ON CONTINENTAL WATERS 237 



On the island of Fohr, off the coast of Schleswig- 

 Holstein, there are five decoys, which about fifteen 

 years ago usually took from 60,000 to 70,000 teal in 

 a season. In the neighbourhood of the decoy, on 

 the sandbanks between the island of Ameland and 

 the mainland, no teal are ever visible; but it is a 

 curious fact that two or three sacksful of these birds 

 are daily caught in the decoy itself. It almost seems 

 as if there were a continuous migration going on so 

 high up that one cannot see them, and that these 

 little ducks drop directly into the decoy from the 

 skies. 



Leaving the Netherlands, and passing down the 

 coast of Belgium, which offers few attractions for 

 migratory fowl, we come to the shores of Northern 

 France, where we again find ourselves in a wild-fowl 

 country. 



In France the chasse au gabion (hut-shooting) is 

 the favourite and most general method of killing wild- 

 fowl, and it is similar to that which was adopted in 

 Colonel Hawker's day. Having pegged down his 

 ' call-ducks ' in suitable places, the fowler retires to 

 his artfully constructed hut on the confines of some 

 inland lake or flooded meadow-land, and there 

 patiently awaits the arrival of the ducks, which 

 come to feed or rest within a few paces of his lair. 



