376 SHOOTING BRENT GEESE 



begin with the " curres" (a provincial term for all the 

 various tribe of diving ducks), as they appear about 

 October. These birds, when accustomed to the skir- 

 mishers of the coast, are generally worse to get at than 

 any others ; and you have then often no other alternative 

 than paddling up a winding creek, so as to suddenly 

 pop on them in turning a corner, and fire either sitting 

 or just as they fly up. But when curres are, by frost, just 

 driven to the coast from under the kind protection of 

 some bird fancier's pond, they are a fine prey for a swivel 

 gun ; provided you hide the flash ; get their heads up 

 before you shoot ; and are well armed with little double 

 detonaters, to work away at the " cripples," after you 

 have stocked the water with them, by the discharge of 

 your artillery. For thus finishing the business, the 

 percussion system is a sine qua non, as these birds are 

 sure to " duck the flash 5 ' after, if not before, being wing 

 broken ; and they will, when wounded, shrug them- 

 selves up so much, that you ought to get within fifteen 

 yards, before you give them the coup de grace. Hun- 

 dreds of sportsmen would be glad to lake a punt, and 

 follow you, on a fine sunshiny day, for this purpose ; 

 while you might either sit still and enjoy the fun, or 

 be proceeding for some other attack. But the business 

 must be done as quick as possible ; or one half of the 

 curres will be off, while you are killing the others. 

 Cartridges and all other expeditious means are here 

 desirable. Curres most frequently keep afloat, instead 

 of going on the mud. 



BRENT GEESE. Towards November, or December, 

 we have the brent geese, which are always wild, unless 

 in very hard weather. In calm weather the geese have 

 the cunning, in general, to leave the mud, as soon as 



