BAIL-SHOOTING. 313 



the shooter has once learned to stand up in a Delaware 

 skiff, and has got his sea legs on board, it is impossible ; at 

 least for any man who can, under any circumstances, kill 

 any thing. 



The only things to do are to stand steady, shoot slowly, 

 and load quickly ; by observing these three rules, the 

 merest beginner, if he have a good poleman, can rival the 

 best and oldest sportsman in the land. 



The right gun is the lightest you have, and that which 

 scatters most. If any one were to think of having a 

 piece built on purpose, it should be one of 26 or 28 inches 

 barrels and 11 or 12 gauge, and one should use out of it 

 about 1^ drachm of powder and f- oz. of mustard-seed 

 shot. The handiest way to load, which cannot be done 

 too fast, as the birds often keep rising in a constant 

 stream, is to have the shot loose in a wooden box or bowl, 

 with a charger lying in it placed on a thwart in front of you, 

 with powder-horn and cut wadding beside it, and a loading 

 rod at hand to save the trouble of drawing and returning 

 the ramrod. A small light landing-net is convenient, 

 fixed on a long handle, for retrieving the dead birds which 

 have fallen in the water, without altering the course of 

 the boat. 



It is well to have a larger gun in the boat, either a 

 common fowling-piece or a double duck gun, of 10 or 12 

 Ibs., as well for shooting at the vast flocks of reed-birds 

 which frequently cross the boat, as for picking up chance 

 shots at green or blue-winged teal ; at both of which birds, 

 as well as at the gallinule, or common water-hen a bird 

 of a closely allied family, which is frequent in the South, 

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