62 



WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



down to us. We will take the lower end of the flock. 

 'Tis true they are not so thick as above, or in the 

 middle, but it's necessary to always keep the bow to- 

 ward them, and not expose the sides, or we would be 

 seen. Keep low ! they are working this way ! I won't 

 try to scull against this current, but will make her hold 

 her own. Sh careful I They are about fifty yards 

 from us, and a single canvas-back among them. Leave 

 him for me. Confound it ! A prying blue-bill has 

 swam around us. He sees us ; he lias his neck stretched 

 up, and will alarm the whole flock. Rise quietly and 

 fire ! Watch your cripples 1 Kill them at once or they 

 will get away. Six ? I thought we had seven down ; 

 but then the fluttering of the dying and the wounded 

 trying to escape might have made me miscount. Take 

 a good look now you have them together, and you will 

 notice the bill of a red-head is concave and blue ; while 

 that of the canvas-back is black and wedge shaped. 

 That narrow opening we see over on the Iowa shore, 

 is called " Hole in the Wall," an appropriate, if not ele- 

 gant name. The water there is very deep. It is the 

 steamboat channel. It gets its name from its pocket- 

 like appearance, cutting in from the wide river to the 

 abrupt bottom land behind it. The islands seem close 

 together, and they are ; still, far enough apart to make 

 an excellent channel. We will go to the east and 

 through the tall timber. We will find ducks every- 

 where to-day. This place is new to you ; not to me. 

 Those tall trees are old friends of mine. Eighteen 

 years ago, when a boy, I wandered beneath those huge 

 limbs. They look the same now as then ; they don't 

 seem to have grown a particle in size. Down their 

 strong bodies the furrowed lines are running, the same 



