296 SPORT INDEED 



heads, but with watchful eyes and ears. Out in front 

 of these boxes wooden decoys are fixed on a frame- 

 work like the letter Y, five on each frame, all strung 

 together, so that they turn with the tide and wind 

 and look natural enough to deceive the oldest gander 

 in the flock. 



Then two gunners with the guide wend their way 

 to the boxes when the tide is flowing in, the gunners 

 encased in hip rubber boots, two or three pairs of 

 stockings, a heavy suit (flannel shirts, sweaters, over- 

 coats), and lastly an oilskin suit, if the weather be 

 rough. The gunners get in the boxes, arrange their 

 pipes and shells and bail the water out, while the guide 

 takes from a basket a pair of clipped- wing brant which 

 he deftly harnesses together like a span of horses. 

 The yokes, made with leather thongs, are put on their 

 feet, not their necks. They are allowed to swim or 

 wade out quite a distance, being secured by a cord 

 which is kept on a reel in the sink box. 



The particular part these birds are to perform 

 (when the brant are flying or swimming anywhere 

 near) is to flap their wings and " honk " their wild 

 relatives into danger among the decoys ; and it is 

 amazing how intelligently they do their work ; how 

 they get away out of range when the wild birds are 

 being covered by the deadly breech-loader, and how 

 they chatter to themselves with seeming satisfaction 

 when the battery has been unmasked and the fallen 



