IIO WILDFOWL SHOOTING IN THE WESTERN STATES. 



ing to him, your poor four-footed companions suffer 

 a great deal more, particularly if clothed in a long 

 and silky coat. Often in the fall of the year I have 

 had to cease shooting, till each dog was picked care- 

 fully over, and this process had to be repeated several 

 times a day. If this was neglected, your kennel 

 would most assuredly be turned into a hospital. 



But to the mallards and their dusky wives. It 

 was easy for the expert to see that the birds 

 before us were, so to say, home-bred, for they 

 lacked the dash and velocity of flight of the true 

 migrants, yet they had an advantage over the last- 

 mentioned, for they were in the most superb con* 

 dition for table use, the result of good feeding and a 

 life of comparative idleness. The nearer we ap- 

 proached the slough, the softer and more slimy be- 

 came the soil, and consequently the more disagree- 

 able to traverse, but who that has the heart of a true 

 sportsman regards such inconveniences ? Mark was 

 my guide, and no better could I have, for who, I 

 should like to know, was more conversant with the 

 wiles and habits of all the broad-billed family ? Up 

 wind we approached the water, for this is as neces- 

 sary in stalking wildfowl as it is in getting within 

 range of the least timid buck that ever wan- 

 dered through the Alleghanies or the Adirondacks. 

 A market gunner would have emptied his first 

 barrel at such birds as rested on the edge of the 

 water or floated upon it, and fired his second the 

 instant after the survivors took wing. Such may be 

 the most profitable method, but we were here in 

 pursuit of sport, not profit. 



" Are you ready ? " " Yes ! " And both sprang to 

 an erect position. Our presence caused a scare, you 

 can be sure, and in a moment after each had singled 

 out his birds and pulled upon them. Those that 

 were aimed at were killed, but several others that 

 chanced to be in the line of fire also fell. This is un- 



