SHORE SHOOTING ON FOOT. 7 



which at all events had the merit of being portable. They were made of two 

 pieces of linen cut in the shape of a bird, sewed together so as to leave a hollow 

 interior, and painted as required. Several could be carried in the pocket, and 

 it was easy to stuff them with grass and set them up with wires when the 

 selected spot was reached. These dummies, though not really very life-like, 

 may claim to have deceived the intelligence of one human being at least, the 

 consequences being all but disastrous to their owner. Hidden amongst some 



HOME ALONG THE SHORE. 



bushes, I had been enjoying a continuous series of most satisfactory shots, 

 when, after a somewhat longer interval, a Whimbrel came sailing up the 

 estuary. Unlike its predecessors, it failed to descend when it saw the 

 dummies, but, checking its flight, hovered high up above them. Despairing 

 of any nearer approach, I at last sprang up and fired. The report had scarcely 

 died away, when a voice behind me remarked with all the delightful sang 

 froid of a shore shooter, " Lucky you got up when you did, sir, or I might 

 have taken you on the way." A hurried survey of the situation convinced me 



