WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 213 



unsurpassable for the purpose ; and any tractable 

 dog, if well trained, will answer in a measure. 



How different it is to stand in the narrow skiff 

 among the tall reeds at early dawn, with the eager 

 and expectant, though humble, associate, crouched 

 in the bottom upon his especial mat, and there in 

 the increasing light that paints the east with many 

 changing hues, to single out the best chances from 

 the passing flocks, and have your skill doubly en- 

 hanced by the intelligent cooperation of your com- 

 panion ; than to lie, cramped, cold, and suffering, all 

 through the weary hours, stretched at full length 

 upon your back with eyes staring up to Heaven and 

 straining to catch a glimpse of the horizon over 

 your beard or forehead ; and occasionally to rise to 

 an equally constrained posture that is neither sitting 

 nor lying, and do your best to discharge your gun 

 with some judgment at a passing flock of fowl! 

 Who can hesitate in selecting the mode in which he 

 will pursue the sport of wild-fowl shooting? Most 

 of the favorite varieties of ducks, including many 

 that are known among ornithologists as sea-ducks, 

 fuligulce, are found in the many scattered ponds, 

 the shallow marshes, or the extensive inland seas 

 of the great west ; while the swans and geese are 

 shot, the former along the larger rivers and lakes, 

 and the latter in the corn-fields. It is true that the 

 enormous flocks that collect in the lagoons and bays 

 of the South are rarely seen ; but the flight of small 

 bodies or single birds is more continuous, and pro- 

 bably the total number even larger. 



