MORE ABOUT FOWLING ON LONGSHORE. 293 



chance, and the chances are in favour of the birds. 

 There is no fear that those wild - fowls that do 

 not breed in England will be exterminated, if they 

 are shot at or decoyed when they come to our 

 shores ; for if the supply in the United Kingdom 

 were to fail, Holland alone could glut the market : 

 it is from Holland that our markets are chiefly 

 supplied. 



Teal are delicate little creatures (miniature ducks 

 you might call them). A slight blow will kill a 

 teal. Sometimes by great good fortune a single 

 shooter, or a party of guns, may fall in with a 

 lot, but this is an exceptional piece of good for- 

 tune. The decoys get the pick of them ; they 

 are dainty feeders, and they find food especially 

 prepared for them there. A teal drake, in my 

 opinion, when in full plumage, is one of the hand- 

 somest members of the family he belongs to. 

 These birds are very quick on the wing, and 

 require to be waited on at once when they spring. 

 Red - headed pochards, or dun - birds, fall to the 

 fowlers at times, but to a certain extent they are 

 local in their choice of feeding-grounds ; the Essex 

 marshes and mud-flats are favoured by them more 



