DUCK SHOOTING. 233 



into the box, unfolded the floating wings 

 and turned up the guards ; several pigs of iron, 

 sufficiently heavy to sink the frame of the battery 

 to the water's edge, were handed in ; a board, 

 covered with a blanket, was then laid over these 

 on the bottom of the sunken box, and after re- 

 ceiving the guns and ammunition, the occupant 

 pushed off from the scow with his boat-hook, 

 while we jumped into the yawl to tow the 

 machine head to wind on the selected spot, and 

 assist in setting the stools. The former was 

 then anchored stem and stern, and by the wan- 

 ing light of the moon we proceeded to dispose the 

 decoys, in the arrangement of which McCul- 

 lough, like most expert duck-shooters, was very 

 fastidious. 



They were placed so as to ride freely without 

 coming in contact with each other, principally 

 at the stern and on either hand of the side wings, 

 the perfection of the art appearing to be to avoid 

 leaving a gap in any part of the rank, and yet to 

 prevent, if possible, the ducks from falling 

 foul. A few of the lightest were placed imme- 

 diately on the wings, and several heads of de- 

 coys were firmly fixed on wooden pins on the 

 deck of the battery. The false ducks were not 

 all imitations of canvass-backs, but had red- 



