302 THE WILD DUCK. 



of dunbirds to be so great, that the whole surface of 

 the pond shall be covered with them, previous to his 

 attempting to take one. Upon such occasions, he 

 bespeaks all the assistants he can get to complete the 

 slaughter by breaking their necks. When all is 

 ready, the dunbirds are roused from the pond, and as 

 all wild fowl rise against the wind, the poles in that 

 quarter are unpinned, and fly up with the nets at the 

 instant the dunbirds begin to leave the surface of 

 the water, so as to meet them in their first ascent, 

 and they are thus beat down by hundreds." 



The other method, of French origin, is the decoy- 

 duck system ; where the fowler provides himself 

 with a number of mallards, made tame. If the 

 wild fowl are in a state of sleepiness, they will not 

 follow the call of the decoys towards the nets (like 

 that in which fish are caught in weirs). In such case, 

 a little dog is brought into requisition. He passes back- 

 ward and forward between the reed hedges, in which 

 there are little holes, both for the decoy man to see, 

 and for the little dog to pass through. This attracts 

 the eye of the wild fowl, who, prompted by curiosity, 

 advance towards this little animal, while he, all the 

 time, keeps playing among the reeds, nearer and 

 nearer the funnels (covered over by the sticks and 

 nets), till they follow him too far to recede. Some- 

 times the dog will not attract their attention, till a 

 red handkerchief, or something as attractive, be put 

 about him. The decoy ducks are taught to dive 

 under the water as soon as the rest are driven in. 



