382 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



are seen at one time, this is a sufficient inducement to bring 

 hundreds of others. These birds, which fly in the air, are often 

 lured down from their heights by the loud voice of one from 

 below* To this call, all the stragglers resort : and, in a week 

 or a fortnight's time, a lake that before was quite naked, will be 

 black with water-fowl, that have left their Lapland retreats ta 

 keep company with our ducks, which continue with us during 

 the whole year. Wild ducks breed in this country, in some 

 places, to a considerable extent ; but by far the greater portion 

 of those seen during the winter season, come from the remote 

 countries of the north. 



Those birds of the duck kind which migrate to this country 

 on the approach of winter, are seldom found so well tasted, or 

 so fat as those that continue with us the year round : their flesh 



The gull is a bold, familiar bird ; and, when domesticated, is supposedf 

 to be of essential service in gardens, from the quantity of worms and 

 grubs which it will devour. It will readily associate with the domestic 

 duck, and soon becomes attached to the place where it is kept. A person 

 at Douglas, in the Isle of Man, having reared a young gull, it became 

 very familiar, and yet was placed under no restraint whatever. Its 

 wings were suffered to grow, and it was allowed to follow its own in- 

 clination as to the extent of its flights. It became very well known in 

 the neighbourhood, and no one molested it. At the approach of spring, 

 however, it disappeared, and was considered to be lost ; but, after the 

 lapse of a week or two, the gull again returned ; and, after being fed, 

 flew away. Nevertheless its visits were often repeated ; and it was ulti- 

 mately discovered that its absence had arisen from its being engaged in 

 the propagation of its species. On the return of winter it again took up 

 its old abode; and again absented itself in spring. This practice the 

 bird has continued for some years, with this difference only, that its. 

 domestic visits, during the summer, are more frequent ; but it never 

 fails to shelter itself under human protection from the hardships and 

 perils of winter. It has been frequently seen in company with its mate 

 and their young, which, however, keep at a distance, whenever it ap-* 

 proaches Us semi-annual habitation. 



