THE GAME-DUCKS. 175 



active, rise horizontally from the sea, offering at that moment 

 the most effective shot that can be desired. A gaggle of 

 Geese, when swimming, may be compared to a book lying 

 flat on a table ; on rising, it is as though the book was 

 opened in the middle, and half its pages held upright, thus 

 presenting a far more extensive target. All that the gunner 

 need remember on going to Geese is to give his gun a good 

 elevation, and shove ahead full speed till they rise. The 

 Geese themselves, in fact, give the signal when to fire 

 (if within range), and the main difficulty is to attain that 

 distance (no slight difficulty is that, however one that in a 



MALLARD SPRINGING TO SHOT DAYBREAK. 



mild season often proves wholly insuperable). But with 

 Duck the case is different, as their first spring carries them 

 clear of the trajectory of a punt-gun. The choice of the 

 precise moment to fire is, therefore, a fine point requiring 

 both coolness and judgment. There are the proverbial 

 "three courses" open. By firing the moment a long 

 range has been obtained, a couple or two may possibly be 

 secured at each shot ; but this is a highly unsatisfactory and 

 most unsportsmanlike proceeding. On the other extreme, 

 an undue anxiety to grasp the " horn of plenty " may result 

 in the whole pack springing unscathed, when well within fair 



