WILD-FOWL SHOOTING ON THE HIGHLAND LOCHS. 161 



Good sport need never be expected when the loch is large, 

 as many of the fowl swim up creeks, and among the morasses 

 in-shore, where it is difficult even to get a flying shot ; while 

 those that remain on the margin of the loch are so concealed 

 by the bushes, &c., that it is quite impossible to see them. 

 The lower the loch the better ; at all events the shore should 

 be clearly defined. At such times, wild-fowl have always 

 favourite haunts for feeding and resting. 



There is a common saying that specimens of all the different 

 kinds of water-fowl which frequent the loch in winter present 

 themselves during the harvest-moon. This is erroneous : for 

 even the morillon, earliest of the diver tribe, seldom appears so 

 soon ; and the tufted and scaup ducks, dun-birds, &c., never 

 until the winter sets in. Multitudes of wild ducks do come 

 down from the moors during harvest to feed upon the corn- 

 fields on the banks of some of the larger lochs, and, when the 

 stubble becomes bare, return to the moor-lochs until these are 

 frozen over, which again drives them back. This is the only 

 foundation for the vulgar error. A day or two is generally 

 sufficient to freeze over these little lochs, and their occupants 

 then come down to the larger ones, the greater parts of which 

 remain open long after the storm has set in. Now is the time 

 for the wild-fowl shooter : if the ground is covered with snow, 

 so much the better. The fowl are then in groups close to 

 the shore, pinched with cold and hunger, seeking shelter and 

 a scanty morsel. If at the same time it is windy, with 

 drifts of snow, no weather can be more propitious for ducks, 

 widgeon, teal, and all wild-fowl that feed at the margin. 

 When the snow is falling thick and fast, a capital sitting 

 shot may sometimes be obtained, though the ground be so 

 bare as to offer no concealment. In most cases, however, it 

 is best not to take the cover off your gun till the shower 

 moderates a little, as snow is apt to penetrate and make it 

 miss fire. 



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