24 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



my knees in mud, and gradually sinking deeper 

 and deeper, yet in a capital position for a family 

 shot at the first party of ducks that might rise 

 from the cover. Two mallards and a teal had 

 already passed at a short distance, but I still 

 reserved my fire, and at last clapping my hands to 

 give the alarm, a group of about a dozen sprang 

 from within a few yards of me, and after blazing 

 right and left into them, I could see that about 

 half their number had dropped into the deepest 

 part of the pool. The pointers were far away 

 with an attendant, and having no retriever with 

 me, I was obliged for the present to give up all idea 

 of recovering them. The report of my gun had 

 roused every bird in the neighbourhood, and up 

 they started in all directions, chiefly ducks, wigeon, 

 and teal, and provokingly wheeling round me within 

 pistol-shot a common occurrence, as every wild 

 fowl shooter knows, under similar circumstances 

 while I was loading as quickly as I could, 

 attained such an altitude by the time that opera- 

 tion was completed, that I had nothing left but 

 to gaze at them as they swept aloft in wide and 

 increasing circles, until they disappeared in the 

 distance. Just at that instant I saw a peregrine 

 falcon pass rapidly overhead, in full pursuit of a 

 batch which had cleared the opposite bank, and 

 were evidently making the best of their way to 



