FLIGHTING 139 



them to be on the qui vive. Presently there is the unmistak- 

 able whistle of pinions, followed, a moment later, by a rushing 

 sound in the air, and two or three wild duck alight with a 

 mighty splash in the centre of the water. The gun stationed 

 in the south-east screen, or perhaps the keeper, immediately 

 puts into motion a bell, which is sometimes placed on the 

 western shore with a communicating cord or wire. This 

 frightens the fowl so that they fly up over the guns and 

 away from the bell or rattle (whichever may be used), offer- 

 ing good sporting shots, which in the uncertain light are much 

 more difficult than one anticipates. 



After the first two or three arrivals there is generally a 

 short interval, then the body of the fowl arrive in quick 

 succession, and if the circumstances and elements be favour- 

 able sport should be fast and furious for upwards of an 

 hour. 



If the wind blows from the west it may be as well to 

 place one gun, at least, in a screen behind the shelving shore. 

 Early in the evening he can put the fowl over the other guns, 

 and later, as the night lowers and the darkness deepens, he 

 can draw out from his screen, continuing to put up the fowl 

 as occasion requires. 



Working in this manner, the fowl, if allowed to alight first 

 (the most killing method), will, on being alarmed, jump from 

 the water and spread out in all directions ; the shooting is thus 

 equally divided and the sport increased. It is always more 

 or less dangerous to shoot at fowl on the water, and at best 

 it is a pot-hunting process. 



Instead of having first ordered the fowl to be frightened 

 out by the keeper earlier in the afternoon, had the wild- 

 fowlers crept stealthily down to the pool, taken up positions, 

 and, acting on a preconcerted signal, fired simultaneously at 

 the birds on the water, and as they rose therefrom the result 

 would have been that seven or eight would have been bagged 

 and all the fowl frightened away for some time to come. 

 Whereas, by acting on the lines suggested, the shooters, to 

 the number of quite half a dozen, can visit the water once or 



