WILD-FOWLING IN AMERICA. 373 



Generally, as soon as the birds see the dog skipping about on the 

 shore, they stretch out their necks as if struck by an irresistible 

 power; which, either through fear, curiosity, or revenge, attracts them 

 towards him ; and, by an apparently unconscious and inconsiderate 

 movement, they approach nearer and nearer, as if they were spell- 

 bound. In this respect toling is very similar to the arts of the 

 decoyer, described ante in chapters xi. and xii. 



The least interruption, as the movement of a boat or human form, 

 within sight or sound of the eyes and ears of the birds, spoils the 

 toler's sport by inducing the birds to swim or fly away. Their whole 

 curiosity must be riveted to the one attractive object the dog. If 

 their attention is diverted, the charm becomes broken, and the dog 

 ceases to have any influence upon them : as if a curtain suddenly fell 

 from their eyes, they become awake to the surrounding dangers which 

 threaten them, and then they no longer yield to canine enticement. 

 One dog only at a time can be used successfully : if two are started 

 at once, the birds take alarm and fly. 



A dog perfectly trained to this sport is seldom to be met with, 

 though such an animal is a most valuable creature, and to a fowler, is 

 truly worth its weight in gold. When the dog is thoroughly awake to 

 its master's signs and wishes, the proceeding of toling wild ducks is a 

 highly interesting one alike to the sportsman, the amateur, and the 

 naturalist. As the ducks approach, the well-trained dog gradually 

 lessens the height of his jumps and bounds ; and when they advance 

 within range, he almost crawls upon the ground. 



Herbert, in his "Field Sports of America," states that he has 

 seen thousands of wild fowl under the influence of the toler, swim- 

 ming in a solid mass direct for the object; "and, by removing the 

 dog farther into the grass, they have been brought within fifteen feet 

 of the bank." 



An imperfectly trained dog causes the fowler much anxiety. When 

 first started in pursuit of the chips, the dog pays no attention to the 

 ducks, because they are then perhaps four or five hundred yards 

 off; but as they approach nearer, the toler cares less and less about 

 the chips, and casts whining and longing looks at the ducks, as if 

 eager to bound into the water and attempt to seize them. It some- 

 times happens, after the ducks have been enticed within sixty or 

 seventy yards of the blinds, that the dog refuses to run after the 

 chips, preferring rather to stop and gaze at the birds ; exhibiting all 

 the while a whining anxiety, as he expects every moment that his 



