CHAPTER VIII. 



THE DECOY-PIPE 



HAVING given an outline of the pond and plantation surrounding it, 

 the most important part of the decoy has now to be described. The 

 pipe is formed by digging a shallow ditch or arm of water, about 

 six or eight inches in depth,* leading directly from the main pond 

 into the plantation or decoy-grounds, to a distance of from sixty to 

 seventy or eighty yards. It is planned in semi-circular form, with a 

 rather sharp curve. The object or advantage of the curve is two-fold. 

 In the first place, it is the twist of the pipe which deceives the birds, 

 and induces them to imagine they are going out at the other end, 

 when the decoyman shows himself and cuts off their retreat ; in the 



* Lubbock describes the decoy -pipe as sixteen or eighteen inches in depth, which 

 is too much. Many fowl would dive and beat a retreat in such a depth of water. 



