328 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



and should they fly extra high, he has 110 hesitancy in 

 giving them a trial with BB's. Talk to him about 5's- 

 and 6's for ducks ! Why, bless you, were we to do that 

 his flaxen hair would stand on end, and his plebeian 

 face emit sparks of disgust. Don't try to convert him ; 

 might as well try to convert an old toper to temper- 

 ance, or preach morality to an acknowledged libertine. 

 In either case, you will be casting pearls before swine. 

 But some time, when you are loading your boat with 

 ducks that you are knocking from all directions with 

 6's, 7's or 8's, watch this same ignoramus. You may 

 not see him personally, but note the ducks where you 

 know he is. They come steadily along, 100 or 125 

 yards high, instinct and experience having taught 

 them they are beyond the scope of danger. Suddenly 

 you see a flock tower quickly, then hear the boom of 

 his gun. That's all, no damage done. Pie is having a 

 heap of fun. We know he won't kill one during the 

 day at that height. What is his excuse for not killing 

 them ? Poor powder, dirty gun, too small shot, and 

 excuses without end. But don't, my dear friend, inti- 

 mate that it is the fault of the gun, unless you are 

 willing to be talked to death, and buried right there, 

 beneath an avalanche of encomiums and reminiscences 

 of what this same gun accomplished in the hands of his 

 grandfather. Then when some stray shot tips a bird, and 

 the bird sails away for hundreds of yards, he will yell 

 like a maniac to his partner to " Watch him ! Watch 

 him ! I hit him, I hit him !" A few years ago I witnessed 

 an entertainment of this kind, and I was the entire 

 audience, and I trust the sole survivor. During the 

 day, two of them bagged one duck, while I killed over 

 40 mallards. 



