SEAFOWL SHOOTING SKETCHES. 31 



SEAFOWL SHOOTING ON THE RIBBLE (1884). 



I turned out at half-past four on the morning" of the ist of 

 August, 1884, and, being" alone, with only a few hours to spare, 

 I decided on having a tramp on the river bank instead of going* 

 in the boat. There were very few large birds to be seen, perhaps 

 the guns which I heard sounding in the distance had scared them 

 all away ; at any rate none came in my direction. 



After walking about a mile I came to a sandbank, which reached 

 two-thirds of the width of the river at low water. Here I crouched 

 at the edge of the water quietly smoking my pipe, and waiting for 

 luck. Soon a small flock of pipers came, and a few were secured. 

 Purres and pipers could now be heard and seen on all sides, and 

 for a while I had very good sport. Altogether 16 were dropped, 

 but six were lost owing to falling too far in the water. It was not 

 very easy work getting the birds, and I had a good deal of running 

 about, which made me feel uncomfortably warm. Time being up, 

 I had to return home. I could have done well if the whole day had 

 been at my disposal. 



The next morning I was out at the same time, but walked lower 

 down to another bank. Again a similar programme was gone 

 through, the birds coming up the river singly and in small flocks. 

 One bunch, which were on a small patch of sand, I fired at sitting, 

 and killed seven. I knew if I put them up they would scatter and 

 drop in the water, but as it was I found myself not much better 

 off, for the sand would not bear my weight. 



I had turned away in disgust when three little boys came up, and 

 after watching me well away, one of them, taking off his clogs, 

 got all the lot. The lad was making off with his prize when I 

 came back and claimed them, much to his dismay. However, I 

 duly rewarded him, and proceeded onwards. 



Half a mile further on a single bird came flying up the river, 

 but having shot almost as many as I cared about, and cartridges 

 getting scarcer, I had resolved not to fire unless I got particularly 

 nice chances, so although the bird was in range I waited for it 

 to get nearer. Just as the gun was raised it dashed across the 

 water, and was missed, as deserved. It was a kingfisher. 

 Wouldn't I have fired sooner if I had known ! 



I shot a couple more birds, which fell in the water, and as a 

 man in a boat hove in sight I hailed him, and he picked them up, 

 and me as well. Having a fair wind and a couple of big sails, we 

 were not long in arriving at the quay. I dropped a gull and a 



