WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 187 



make them of peat, or you may dig a hole in 

 the ground and get into it, or collect a bundle 

 of rushes and nestle behind it. If the birds are 

 pitched when you see them (and it requires 

 practised eyes to distinguish them), if you 

 notice them standing perfectly still, you may 

 be assured there is no use whatever in trying to 

 get nearer. If they are running about, it is a 

 proof that they are not heeding you. It often 

 happens that in these fens a race of amphibious 

 human bipeds, when the ague allows them, 

 come to pick up osiers, withies, or fuel, and the 

 birds grow quite accustomed to their appear- 

 ance. You may bribe one of these creatures 

 to be your stalking-horse, and in this way 

 surprise the birds, who very quickly, however, 

 grow too cunning for the success of the 

 stratagem. 



In blustry storm weather, with a strong wind 

 blowing from the sea, when the tide is at its ebb, 

 leaving exposed some miles of shingle, of sand, 

 and of low black rocks, a bag of wild-fowl may 

 be had of the most curious variety. On such 

 days the shore will be covered with screaming 

 gulls, with swarms of sand-pipers, sea-larks, red 



