RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 411 



friends with wings stififly set and necks out- 

 stretched. In this strange light they look as 

 large as geese. Now is the time! As they 

 bunch and wheel, convinced of the cheat, let go 

 at them with both barrels, and in answer to the 

 sudden roar of your discharge down go the 

 splashing forms of dead and wounded birds 

 among the motionless decoys. While the boom 

 of your gun goes echoing about from cape 

 to promontory in circuit of the bay as if 

 a battery was stationed on every headland, you 

 are hurrying down to the boat to gather up the 

 spoil. You pat yourself on the back — (mentally, 

 of course,) — and think, ''What a streak of 

 shooting I have developed!" when, hello! 

 Only one bird! Ah, there is one more swim- 

 ming away and here another, and popping sud- 

 denly out of the depths still another, but most of 

 them active and doing their best to put a safe 

 distance between your dangerous company and 

 themselves, swimming with their bodies half 

 submerged and a watchful eye behind them. 

 You have reloaded and are now tugging as for 

 your life at the oars to gather in those that seem 

 to be the most active, and so pass by the dead as 

 they will keep until your return. But you don't 



