56 A MEDLEY OF SPORT 



went away as though they rather Hked it, while a third 

 pochard, which I took as he rose, also got away with the 

 loss of only one breast feather . 



It now became evident to me that not " crooked " 

 but damp powder was answerable for the escape of the 

 fowl, and, muttering blessings (?) on the head of the man 

 who sold me the damaged shells, I again loaded up and 

 waited for another chance of experimenting. The report 

 of the German's gun reached me every now and again 

 from some other lagoon lying at no great distance away. 

 During the next ten minutes or so nothing in the shape of 

 fowl visited my pan beyond a couple of coots, which 

 paddled in and out amongst the decoys as though to 

 satisfy themselves regarding the species of the queer- 

 looking birds which had taken possession of the " bald 

 pates " sanctuary. Suddenly one of the coots made a 

 savage dig at a highly coloured wooden teal, and then 

 with a loud " Cluck, cluck ! " of derision he flew into a 

 clump of dense wild rice plants, with his dusky consort 

 following close in his wake. A string of mallard, flying 

 far out of gunshot, passed over my head, but on they sped, 

 taking not the slightest notice of the decoys. Then in 

 twos and threes and in bunches came duck, teal and 

 pochard, some well within and others well out of range, 

 while I blazed away until the barrels of my gun were 

 hot ; but I only succeeded in stopping a miserable 

 specimen of a gargany, which, upon post-mortem ex- 

 amination, proved to have been killed with a single 

 pellet of No. 6, which, entering the eye, had penetrated 



