GEESE 



color; heavy weights sink it so low that its 

 decks are awash. The sportsman lies at full 

 length in it, and his body is thus really be- 

 neath the level of the water. When it is sur- 

 rounded by a couple hundred dancing decoys, 

 the hunter is effectually hidden from all but 

 high-flying birds. To such as fly low, the rig 

 is a snare and a delusion ; not unless they flare 

 high enough to get a duck's-eye view do they 

 see the ace-in-the-hole, and then it is usually 

 too late. 



Battery shooting requires some little prac- 

 tice and experience. One must begin by 

 learning to endure patiently the sensations of 

 ossification, for to rest one's aching frame even 

 briefly by sitting up, or to so much as raise 

 one's head for a good look about, is a high 

 crime and a misdemeanor. It completely 

 ruins the whole day for the guides, who are 

 comfortably anchored off to leeward in the 

 tender, and affords them the opportunity of 

 saying, later: 



"You can't expect 'em to decoy to a lump. 

 If you'd of kep' down, you'd of got fifty birds 

 to-day." 



And that is not the only discomfort. All 

 batteries are too small, and some of them leak 



19 



