THE DUCKS. 211 



takes to write is held firmly below by the strings into which 

 he has thrust his neck. His companions note the prolonged 

 dive, and, probably thinking he is having an especially good 

 time of it, follow him, head after head being driven through 

 the small but elastic meshes of the net, whence there is no 

 return ; and the unfortunate birds are held thus until they 

 are drowned. Any which wash out as the tide recedes are 

 caught by the crescent-like wall whose top is only just below 

 high- water mark, or the fishermen come down to the beach 

 with their poodles, and send them in after any ducks which 

 may be floating away to sea. In this manner considerable 

 numbers of birds are taken; but the profit is small, the 

 victims selling for as little as fivepence apiece on account of 

 their fishy taste and rankness. The black duck, it may be 

 remarked, is the only form of flesh allowed to be eaten on 

 fast days by the See of Rome, a curious bit of Pontifical 

 irony, since this single exception is of a kind too rank to be 

 touched by any but the very poor. 



Sometimes ponds and lakes patronized by water-fowl will 

 be unapproachable to the shooter for want of cover ; he may 

 nevertheless be able to obtain a few brace by one of the 

 following methods. Let him take some good strong rabbit 

 traps, and pour melted pitch on the plates. Before the 

 pitch has time to cool, sprinkle on it several grains of barley. 

 Choose a moonlight night for the experiment, and hang the 

 traps, duly set on the side of the pond (within a few inches 

 of the water) opposite the moon, so that her rays fall well 

 on the pitched plates, which will glitter, and render the 

 barley clearly visible to the ducks as they swim about the 

 pond. Hang the traps on short pegs, so that when one of 

 them is sprung by a duck "bibbling" against the barley, 

 it may fall into the water, carrying the unfortunate drake 

 with it ; and if the trap be a heavy one, and the water deep 

 enough, there will be little or no spluttering to alarm the 

 other birds. I have never tried this plan, and therefore 

 cannot speak personally as to its efficacy, but an old boatman 

 assured me he had often done it successfully. 



