238 KRIDER'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



motion of a red-head decoy, close to the after 

 wing. A comical-looking, hard-a-weather old 

 fellow he was, with the nail of his bill shot off 

 and his head turned over his back, and there he 

 kept veering and bowing, now looking us right 

 in the eye over the edge of the wings, as he 

 topped a small surge, and now disappearing from 

 our sight again, when, all at once, a small flock 

 of black-heads appeared, setting their wings to 

 alight, as it seemed right over him, and rising 

 more coolly this time, we managed to kill three 

 out of seven and cripple down a fourth, without 

 finding occasion to use the second gun, the sur- 

 vivors going off so swiftly to our right, that they 

 were far to leeward by the time we had turned. 

 After this we had pretty shooting for about an 

 hour, when Davis came out to relieve us, Fred 

 preferring to take his turn in the afternoon, as 

 the swell was sinking fast with the wind, and in 

 a half an hour it bade fair to be calm. Accord- 

 ingly Davis had not fired more than a half a 

 dozen shots, killing a canvass-back at each dis- 

 charge, before the water was as smooth as a mill- 

 pond; our own decoys and those of one or two 

 other batteries at a still greater distance, loomed 

 up on the glassy flood as large as geese ; the 

 ducks ceased to stool, and we passed away the 



