USE OF FERRET. 87 



swim steadily and naturally to the pipe at all 

 times. 



A ferret will now and again attract fowl when they 

 are no longer interested in the evolutions of a dog. 

 To work a ferret for this purpose a string must 

 be put round each screen beforehand, and the ends 

 joined, so that the cord forms a continuous band 

 which can be pulled as wished to and fro round the 

 screen. A loop is made in the cord, and this is 

 secured by a spring-hook to the ferret's collar ; he is 

 then dragged in front of the fowl, from the opening 

 of one screen to another. If the birds follow, he can 

 be at once detached, and hooked on to the cord 

 already encircling the next screen, and so on. Not 

 a pleasant life, though a useful and energetic one ! 



A decoy pool requires a stream of water or reser- 

 voir somewhere at hand, from which a flow can be 

 led into the pipes by drains. An outlet in the pool 

 must be regulated to keep the water from nsing too 

 high in the pipe ditches. A slight current into the 

 pipes is sufficient, so long as it drifts the scattered 

 grain down the ditch, and a little beyond the 

 pipe's entrance. These drains may run in near 

 the bend of each pipe, and small sluices can be 

 fixed to turn them on and off. All fowl swim 

 more readily against even a slight stream than 

 they ever do in still water. The pipe that suits the 

 wind, and is about to be used, can have the water 

 flow turned on previously ; the other pipes as occa- 

 sion requires. A little trap-door may be made in 

 each drain behind the screens near where the water 

 empties into the ditches, about 30 yards from the 

 pool. In this opening the food can be dropped 



