233 



WADERS, DIVERS, AND OTHER FOWL. 



ONE of the charms of coast-shooting is the variety of the 

 game. The wildfowler at any rate enjoys seeing (though 

 he may not obtain) a far greater variety of game than is the 

 case in any other branch of sport incomparably greater than 

 on the fells, fields, or woodlands. In punt-gunning, unfor- 

 tunately, it is simply impossible, at once, fully to combine 

 the characters of both sportsman and naturalist at least, as 

 regards the securing of specimens. One or the other character 

 must be predominant, or failure and disappointment are 

 tolerably sure to be the result of an attempt to sit on two 

 stools. One of the first essentials of successful fowling is 

 quiet. Cruise about unheard and unseen as far as possible ; 

 disturb nothing, not even a gull ; and never fire a shot till 

 at length you have the grand opportunity you have for hours 

 been manoeuvring to secure well under your gaping muzzle. 

 The man who is perpetually pop-popping at Plovers or single 

 birds in hopes of some day securing a "rare specimen," will 

 not only utterly ruin his own chance of getting a good shot, 

 but that of every one else in his neighbourhood. 



From a purely ornithological point of view, this is a matter 

 of regret, especially when one remembers the malignant 

 persistency with which these stray chances at out-of-the-way 

 fowl invariably turn up at the wrong moment. One may 

 spend days, weeks, without seeing a creature beyond those 

 telescopic-eyed geese and impracticable Wigeon. Then, 

 just as one is " flattened " to what looks like being a favour- 

 able chance of a big shot, there floats past within half-gun- 

 shot a single Grebe, or a pair of ducks one does not recognize, 

 either of which miglit prove of exceptional interest. But to 



