WILDFOWL SHOOTING. n 



open land adjoining, they were secure from approach 

 on all sides. He was returning about noon unsuc- 

 cessful, groping along the bank that led to his door, 

 when within a few yards of home, a large gaggle of 

 Wild-geese rose from outside his garden gate, and 

 within twenty yards of the cottage he lived in ! 



During thick weather, also, Ducks are found in 

 places they do not otherwise visit. They are not 

 so restless as Geese in a fog ; if overtaken near their 

 feeding grounds, they will drift to and fro, till it 

 clears ; but if caught out in open water, their actions 

 resemble those of Geese. The best shot at Duck I 

 ever heard of on fresh water, was one made by 

 Considine, fowler and fisherman to Mr. W. Spaight, 

 of Derry Castle, Lough Derg, who realized fifty 

 Wigeon at one discharge, and with a gun carrying 

 a pound of shot. The fowler and his companion 

 had pulled by dawn to Holy Island, where fowl 

 abound ere flying to the open lake to pass the day. 

 No birds being seen, one of the men walked across 

 the island to peer round. He had not left long 

 when a company of Wigeon, perhaps startled by 

 his form, rose off the wet grass and alighted close 

 before the punt, concealed inshore. As my in- 

 formant described to me, he had merely to pull the 

 trigger with the above result. 



The heaviest shot I know of on the tide, was made 

 by Mr. Vincent and his man " Sambo." They obtained 

 one hundred and six Teal at one shot on a southern 

 estuary. The best aggregate day's sport in my 

 experience, was one hundred and thirty-nine Duck 

 and Wigeon, killed by Captain Gould, R.E., and 

 myself, from our punt off the West Coast ; the 



