WILDFOWL OF THE NOETH-EAST COAST. 167 



In such seasons, the number of Brent Geese on this 

 coast, as mentioned elsewhere, is truly amazing. In the 

 winters of 1878-9, and 1880-1, it was no uncommon occur- 

 rence to see from ten to twelve thousand in a single har- 

 bour ; and during March, 1886, even these great numbers 

 were largely exceeded. The soporific effect of the frost on 

 Mallard and Wigeon has already been alluded to. Sheld 

 Ducks (usually rather wary fowl) now become quite tame ; 

 indeed, they and all the shell-feeding birds suffer severely in 

 protracted frosts. The vegetable feeders can make shift for 

 a considerable time on the drift weed, which every tide is 

 carried off the flats by the ebb ; but the food of the others 

 is absolutely sealed against them, and they suffer propor- 

 tionately. Even the Curlews, usually quite impracticable, 

 now yield to the extremities of the weather, and may easily 

 be approached, if thought worth shooting in their emaciated 

 and half-starved condition. Scaup-ducks, always tame, will 

 now admit of approach even on foot ; and the lesser waders 

 hardly take the trouble to get out of one's way. The effect 

 of long and severe frost, in short, is to tame and subdue all 

 wildfowl, and render them accessible to a punt, though 

 Mergansers and Golden-eyes are always the least affected. 



During the continuance of the frost, wildfowl enjoy one 

 great safeguard, in the ice itself, from the ascendency which 

 would otherwise accrue at such times to the gunning-punt. 

 As already mentioned, it is most imprudent to adventure 

 these frail craft among the drifting floes, where they 

 run a serious risk of being stove, to say nothing of the 

 impossibility of holding a direct course, or of working a 

 big gun under such conditions. Moreover, during neap tides 

 the accumulations of stranded ice along the " full- sea mark" 

 render large areas of the flats wholly inaccessible to craft of 

 any description. The very best chances to score occur, there- 

 fore, not so much during the frost itself as on the first break- 

 up of the ice. The fowl are then so intent on getting a 

 " square meal," and so determined to make up for the hard- 

 ships and short commons of the " glacial epoch," that 

 excellent opportunities may be secured by those who are 

 lucky enough to be on the spot at exactly the right moment. 



