162 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



In open weather, the higher the wind the better, as it drives 

 to the shore whatever fowl are upon the loch, although, until 

 the frost sets in, they will be comparatively few. 



The most auspicious weather for divers is one of those 

 frosty days, accompanied by mist, when the loch is perfectly 

 calm, and looks like a mirror dimmed by one's breath. You 

 may then hear their plash in the water sometimes even 

 before they can be seen; and if care is taken to make no 

 rustling among the bushes when they are above water, you 

 have every prospect of a good chance. The smoothness of the 

 surface and the mist make each bird appear twice as large as 

 it is, which enables you much more easily to catch sight of 

 them coming up from the dive. The mist is also an excellent 

 shroud if the ground is open, without a tree or bush to hide 

 behind when the birds are above water. 



The wild-fowl shooter must never forget that the true proof 

 of his skill consists in obtaining sitting shots, and stopping a 

 number of fowl at one discharge ; and, unless with divers, he 

 must not think of a flying right-and-left. 



Since writing this chapter I have been much struck by the 

 contrast which this sport presents to the gloomy picture that 

 we are generally accustomed to draw of our wintry weather, 

 with its obstacles to outdoor recreations. Even Sir Walter 

 Scott seems to have forgotten the resources which winter 

 wild-fowling affords against indoor ennui. Had he taken 

 counsel with his friend the elder Monkbarns, who was " an 

 arrant fowler," and whose death I attribute less to the " cold 

 caught in his vocation while shooting ducks in the swamp 

 called Kittlefitting Moss," than to the bottle of brandy which 

 he drank " that very night to keep the cold out of his stomach," 

 he would have given us a more cheery side to the dark de- 

 scription of December which he draws in ' Marmion.' Far 

 from welcoming the " busy day and social night " in the city, 



