SEAFOWL SHOOTING SKETCHES. 37 



its neck outstretched and eyes peering out inquisitively. Before 

 I could raise the gun it had seen me and gone back again. I got 

 up and walked past the place, beating the fence well, but could 

 see nothing. 



Feeling much disappointed, I went back to my old place, and, 

 kneeling on some dry leaves, called again. The bird at once 

 answered from the same spot, and trotted forth to see what was 

 the matter. I do not think it ever knew, for I instantly pressed 

 the trigger, despatching an ounce and an eighth of shot to its 

 address, and " rallus " was no more. 



I rushed to seize it like a Red Indian would to raise his first 

 scalp, and am afraid the yell of triumph which I uttered would 

 have done the said Indian's lungs no discredit. With what 

 pleasure I examined it, stroking its smooth plumage and noting 

 the conformation of its long shanks those who, like myself, com- 

 bine a little of the naturalist with the sportsman, can only tell. 



Professor Wilson, in " The Recreations of Christopher North," 

 describing his feelings on shooting a heron, and again a curlew, 

 expresses the sensation in far more graphic language than I can 

 command. A few mornings subsequently I was successful in ob- 

 taining another specimen, my " modus operandi " being similar. 



Of course, the first bird was preserved. 



I will now attempt to describe the " call," and how to make it. 

 Take a piece of hard wood, about eight inches long, two inches 

 wide, and three-quarters deep, at one end of which cut a slot down 

 the centre, two inches long and a good inch wide. Then take a 

 piece of boxwood, cut out a wheel two inches in diameter and one 

 inch wide, so as to work easily in the slot. The grain of the wood 

 must run through from side to side, so as to insure equal wearing, 

 as well as for ease in cutting the teeth. To make these latter, set 

 out the wheel in sixteen parts by the aid of a pair of compasses, 

 and then, fixing it in a vice, proceed to saw or file out the teeth. 



Next bore a small hole, one-quarter inch diameter, through the 

 wheel and through the slot, and put the wheel in with a hard wood 

 axle ; then take a flat piece of boxwood, a good inch wide, and full 

 one-eighth thick, reaching from the end of the handle to nearly the 

 centre of the wheel. At the " handle " end, which may be shaved 

 down at the sides so as to make it an inch square with the corners 

 taken off, fasten down this flat piece with two screws. 



The screw nearest the wheel must be left so that it can be 

 tightened or slackened, so as to regulate the boxwood spring. The 

 principle is exactly that of a child's rattle, and when rubbed down 

 the thigh gives an exact imitation of the landrail's cry. 



I never found either a comb, a couple of bones, one notched and 

 the other smooth, or piece of iron filed like a saw, to be of any 

 use, and, besides, it requires both hands to use them. The little 



