CONSTRUCTION OF DECOY. 73 



for the subject, instruction and pleasure all the year 

 round, to say nothing of the substantial additions a 

 decoy would bring to the table of its owner, if pro- 

 perly worked. 



Now, although a decoy should be as sequestered 

 and free from disturbance as possible, especially 

 when large takes of fowl are looked for, it by no 

 means follows that this is imperative in a moderate 

 venture of the kind. As I write, I can call to mind 

 a decoy in full working order, within less than one 

 hundred yards of a much used high-road ; so near, 

 indeed, that idle folks pitch stones into the very 

 sanctity of the pool itself, and the carters, as they 

 ride slowly past, crack their whips to startle the 

 fowl they can plainly see over the park wall. But 

 wildfowl soon discover real danger, and in a case 

 like that referred to, the crack of a whip, or a falling 

 stone, is in a short time disregarded. Keepers or 

 labourers loitering about the banks of the pool, with 

 or without dogs and guns, must, nevertheless, be at 

 all times strictly forbidden, and nothing in human 

 form should be allowed near the water's edge. 



Cattle, though the fowl take no notice of them, 

 must not be collected by the herd or his dog within 

 sight or sound of the decoy. Low trees, under- 

 growth, alder, willow, rushes and evergreens, should 

 environ the pool and pipes, both near and at a dis- 

 tance, but the planting must be done judiciously, 

 and not so as to give the aspect of a walled enclo- 

 sure, in which fowl would hesitate to alight, fearing a 

 snare. Low shrubs may be placed so as to shelter 

 the fowl from vulgar gaze, and prevent their seeing 

 horses and foot-passengers on a neighbouring road. 



