THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 329 



to within thirty or forty yards their curiosity is generally 

 satisfied, and after swimming up and down for a few 

 seconds, they retrograde to their former station. The 

 moment to shoot is while they present their sides, and 

 forty or fifty ducks have often been killed by a small 

 gun." 



It is said that the tendency to overshoot large, solid 

 flocks is so great that the oldest and best shots recom- 

 mend that the nearest duck be brought into full relief 

 above the sight, when your shot will rake the mass. To 

 prevent the toling dogs from breaking, other dogs, 

 crossed between the Newfoundland and water-spaniel, 

 are used, which display even more sagacity than the 

 tolers, crouching when the ducks come in, and springing 

 up eagerly at the discharge, in order to mark its effect. 

 During a flight of fowl, these retrievers are said inces- 

 santly to watch the quarter of the heavens whence the 

 fowl are flying, and to indicate their approach by rest- 

 lessness of manner long before the human eye can detect 

 them. 



This toling is not, however, regarded by good and 

 great duck-shots as a very legitimate or sportsmanlike 

 method, and though the sagacity of the dogs, and the 

 gradual approach of the ducks in a way so curious must 

 give an interest and excitement to the business, it must 

 be confessed that blazing away into solid, stationary 

 masses of thousands cannot be compared to shooting on 

 the wing. 



