CHAPTER XV 



WILD-FOWL SHOOTING (continued} 

 DUCKS. PLOVER. SHORE BIRDS 



\ It 7 HERE wild-ducks are fairly plentiful, the sport 

 W O f flight-shooting the killing of these fine 

 fowl on their evening and morning flight to and from 

 their nocturnal feeding-grounds possesses many at- 

 tractions for the true wild-fowler. To make a bag- of 



o 



respectable proportions in this pursuit, a man must 

 not only be skilled in the use of the gun, he must also 

 shoot with judgment. The successful flight-shooter is 

 endowed with keen eyesight, and ears that are ready 

 to take in sound and quick to locate it. Most novices, 

 and in fact all who shoot with indifferent success at 

 evening flight, can usually hear wild-ducks as they fly 

 past well enough ; all the same they seldom get a sight 

 of the fowl, through inability to fix their position, until 

 they are just about to disappear in the gloom. Then, 

 of course, an effective shot cannot so well be made, or 

 if it is, the birds are out of sight when falling, and 

 many of them are not recovered. On the contrary, the 

 practised fowler, on hearing the whistling of wild-ducks' 

 pinions, can determine their position with such nicety 

 that the moment the fowl come within view no time is 

 lost in changing his position, for all is ready, and birds 



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