THE DUCK DECOY AT TOKYO 303 



ducks and their catching ; it is like fishing there is generally 

 something wrong somewhere. 



All approaches to the protecting bamboo thicket are thickly 

 covered with pine needles and so are the paths which lead to 

 the screens ; no word is spoken, everything is arranged and 

 ordered by sign. The only exception permitted is at the com- 

 mencement of operations, when the keepers go behind the 

 screens on to the open ground and gently clap their hands, 

 a signal well understood and quickly responded to by the 

 decoys, who at once enter the various pipes to feed on the 

 grain thrown to them. 



To every visitor is given a net, made of blue cord, about 

 4 feet deep by 3 feet wide, and 4 feet in length, which is 

 attached to a fork at the end of a bamboo pole 7 feet long. 

 Armed with this he awaits the signs from the keeper that the 

 wild birds are sufficiently far up the pipe for an attempt to 

 be made at their capture. There is room for three people on 

 the open ground at each side of the ditch, which is about 3 feet 

 wide and 2 deep, the apparent depth being added to by the 

 embankment running along its whole length, so that a person 

 approaching it cannot be seen by the birds until the last moment, 

 or heard, if proper shoes are worn, and no noise is made. The 

 time having come, the keeper enters the cleared ground first, 

 and is at once followed by the visitors. He puts his net into the 

 lake-end of the pipe to close it, and prevent the escape of any 

 duck by swimming. The decoys used to the game do not 

 attempt to leave, but the wild birds fly up in great alarm, rising 

 straight from the water. Now is the time to catch them in the 

 net, held with mouth downward ; although very exciting, it is 

 not by any means as easy as it would seem to be. It is very 

 difficult to judge the distance correctly, and, in the excitement, 

 other nets make grabs at what you had considered your own 

 particular bird. When a duck has been caught in the net a 

 sharp twist of the handle will hold it safely in the bag of it 

 until a keeper takes it out. On good days, when the birds are 

 hungry and freely enter the pipes, the general result is very 

 satisfactory, and a visit to one division does not disturb the 

 others, who all have their turn. Very often thousands of ducks 

 rest on the lake, and a most interesting study it is to watch 

 them one's self unseen through the different peepholes. 



