310 THE KEEPER'S BOOK 



fast as he can for the scene of the shot to secure the 

 wounded. This is especially essential if one be after 

 ducks of the diving species, as they, though wounded, 

 may give much trouble and often escape altogether. It 

 will be found, however, that a wounded duck has con- 

 siderable reluctance to go under water at first, and, if 

 reached without loss of time, he can be finished off with 

 a i2-bore ere he makes up his mind to dive. 



The vermin which are most disastrous to wildfowl 

 and their eggs in Scotland t are the grey crow and the 

 black-backed gull. The larger species of hawks do a 

 certain amount of damage, but they are becoming so 

 few and far between, and wildfowl are so plentiful, that 

 the sportsman is only too glad to accord to them un- 

 grudgingly their toll of birds. Every effort should, how- 

 ever, be made to destroy the two arch-enemies which 

 I have just mentioned. On some of the rocks in the 

 Outer Hebrides where wildfowl nest in large numbers, 

 one will readily see that it is impossible to magnify the 

 damage and depredation caused by such vermin as the 

 grey crow and black-backed gull. The shells of count- 

 less eggs, not to speak of the bones of young wildfowl, 

 can be seen on almost every rock or prominence in the 

 nesting quarters of the wildfowl. 



Wild Goose Shooting 



To attempt this class of sport with any degree of 

 success, one must first procure a double 8 -bore gun, 

 although at times, with great luck, a considerable bag 



