THE POCHARD. 97 



to be killed, the other would swim about as though 

 confused, and uncertain whether to go or stay, on 

 the chance of its unfortunate companion reviving. 

 On open water, as every shooter knows, they never 

 act so tardily. Even when within shot on the water, 

 they take such a hard blow, and, when suspicious, 

 swim so deep, and sometimes dive so quick from 

 the flash, that where you might expect to get your 

 fifteen or twenty birds from the same number of 

 Wigeon, your efforts in the case of Pochard will 

 be rewarded with a mere half-dozen, mostly lively 

 cripples, that will waste much time and powder in 

 retrieving. When resting and unsuspicious, if by 

 good luck you can catch them thus round a corner, 

 they float high and buoyant, as do Duck or Wigeon. 

 Then, if not feeding, a good shot may be obtained 

 on the water as they sit* 



I cannot agree with some writers that Pochard 

 will dive to escape before being wounded, or fired 

 at. If one be hemmed in by a corner, or up a 

 narrow river, he will then, sometimes, dive past in 

 preference to crossing overland. Should there be a 

 few, instead of one, they will take heart, and, rising 

 on the wing, give a chance, perhaps, to the shoulder- 

 gun. 



It may be remarked that all Divers evince a 

 dislike to flying over the land. They are, probably, 



* After firing at a number of Scaup or Pochard, it is, at first, a 

 puzzle to tell how many belong to the shot. They will (if they ducked 

 the flash or were feeding) continue to appear on the surface, as if 

 wounded, for some moments. " There's a cripple and another and 

 another ! " the young fowler may be heard to exclaim with joy. But 

 instead of the twelve or fourteen birds he sees and counts on, he is 

 perchance, to his disgust, left with only two or three making off in 

 the distance. 



H 



