196 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



decoys cannot be seen by the fowler from his 

 ambush, as is now and then the case, by reason of 

 undulating ground, he places two small bushes 

 (which do not look so suspicious as sticks) halfway 

 between his hiding-place and the net, each bush 

 being in a line with the outside decoys. When he 

 sees his game pass between these marks in the 

 distance, he knows they are over his net, and at 

 that instant pulls and makes his capture. If Plover 

 are seen frequenting certain fields late in the even- 

 ing, the fowler should be out very early the next 

 morning, near the favoured spot, ere they shift their 

 quarters, as they constantly do. " Here to-day, 

 gone to-morrow," no one knows where ! It never 

 answers to wander here and there in search of 

 Plover, net in hand. When a good position for the 

 net has been fixed on, it ought rarely to be moved 

 again for the day. The haunts of the birds should 

 be discovered, and the ground where they have 

 been seen patiently worked. If they pitch at a 

 distance, send a boy to range them up, and they 

 will, as they wheel about in the sky, probably see 

 the decoys and pay them a visit ere long. I do 

 not consider a Plover call a necessity, though now 

 and then of assistance ; for the birds can usually 

 see the decoys quite as far as they can hear a 

 whistle. Many fowlers never use one, but if they 

 do, it is made from a lobster's claw, with a hole 

 at the end to put the finger on and off as in a flute, 

 to modulate the note. Only one live decoy is 

 needed, and some ten to fifteen dead ones. Each 

 for its kind Plover for Plovers ; Curlew for 

 Curlews ; Pigeon for Pigeons. These latter are 



