Rail and Reed Bird 171 



it before many pairs of excellent eyes, my own 

 among them. 



Owing to the rail's habit of skulking in dense 

 cover, it can be depended upon for sport only in 

 tide-waters. At high tide the marsh growths are 

 so much submerged that a suitable boat may 

 readily be pushed through their tops, while their 

 protection as cover is for the time lost to the birds. 

 At low tide a man might flounder about for hours 

 without getting a shot, although rails were all around 

 him. Because the birds are slow fliers, which usu- 

 ally rise at close range and cannot carry off shot, 

 the lightest of guns and charges are best. The 

 other requisites for the sport include the proper 

 boat, a man who knows the marsh to act as 

 " pusher," and a high tide. The pusher's busi- 

 ness is to push or pole the boat through the best 

 cover, to direct attention to rising birds, to mark 

 down and secure what may happen to fall, to flatter 

 and cajole a duffer, to gloat over a reliable per- 

 former, to swear audibly or under his breath as 

 circumstances may appear to warrant, to assist at 

 any spiritual seance at which spirits promise to 

 freely respond, to get more birds than any other 

 boat out for the tide, and to endeavor to get a line 

 on the plumpness of his patron's pocket-book and to 

 charge accordingly. A good man does all these 

 things, not seldom including the patron. 



The amount of shooting to be obtained largely 

 depends upon the height of the tide and the skill of 

 the pusher. But whether the gun be kept busy, or 

 rests upon one's arm, the experience is bound to 

 be a pleasant one. Properly propelled, the light- 



