The ) 'oil 11!^ OriuHioloiJisi . 



BODAJV'I) GVX. 



SHOOTIN(; WATERFOWL XV 

 NIGHT. 



Althougli I could see nothino-. I 

 could hear the ducks out on the lake, 

 quacking, tluttering- and whistling at a 

 great rate, and seemingly enjoying 

 themseh'es in the secure cover of da I'k- 

 ness. As I stood there, wlnle my com- 

 panions were making preparations, my 

 reflections took a meditative turn, and 

 as I listened to the ducks enjoying 

 themselves in their sports, all heedless 

 and unsuspecting of the impending 

 doom soon to overtake some of their 

 number, I was forcil^ly i-eminded of 

 the old adage: "In the midst of life 

 and joy we are in the jaws of death." 

 My i-etlections ^^-ere suddenly in- 

 terupted by one of my comi):inions 

 slapping me on the shoulded. with a 

 jolly "Already A!., old boy. come on!" 

 I followed him to the water's etlge and 

 took an inventory of our stock" We 

 had moored close to the bank a large, 

 flat, skull-movement dutk boat and in 

 the stem was placed a brilliant head- 

 light, which threw a dazzling light for 

 a distance of a couple of hundrcl yards 

 in advance of tlieboat. while the chalk 

 I have perviously spoken of was util- 

 ized on their guii eiglits. and it being 

 smeared along the gun barrel render- 

 ing it very distinct Jind avoids the daz- 

 zling a])pearance so troublesome in 

 night shootino-. 



We wei'c all soon aboard. :uid I 

 :igreed In do tiie i)ro|)eiling I'oi' a while 

 ;ind watch ni\ (•(»in]);iiii(ms do the 



shooting [jart of the programme. We 

 had skulled but a short distance when 

 one of my fi'iends whispered to me to 

 veer a little to the right and go easy. 

 I complied Avith his request, and was 

 just wondering what he had seen, when 

 bang! went his fowling-piece, and on 

 looking ahead I saw a couple of lai-ge 

 birds tiuttering and kicking in plain 

 view of us. as they lay in the broad 

 patii of light thrown out in oui- front. 



■T got them, and they are a couple 

 of old Redheads, too.'" shouted my 

 companion. 



Sure enough, on securing our gauK! 

 I saw they were ii tine brace of old 

 drake Redheads — as|)lendid Ijeginning 

 — and I already began to consider my- 

 self an old hand at the business, and 

 able to kill as many ducks, with the 

 same show, as they would. 



The next victim Avas a worthless old 

 coot, which was foolish enough to come 

 sailing along I'ight across the path of 

 light, and fell liefore the unerring aim 

 of one of my companions. 



"It was shot by mistake, however," 

 said he. "and plague take the luck any- 

 how ; there I went and roused up a 

 whole flock of Mallards, just by mak- 

 ing a break at that blasted old mud- 

 h(Mi."" 



We did not stop to take this last ac- 

 quisition on board, but rowed on for a 

 quai'ter of a mile or so, when all of a 

 sudden bang! went the gun of my other 

 friend, with the good luck to secure a 

 fine large Pintail. Thus ran our luck, 

 and in the course of a few hours we 

 had bagged over a dozen fine ducks, of 

 all kinds, from the little wiry Ruddy 

 Duck u]) to the majestic old drake 

 Mallard. 



I now tO(jk my turn at the stem and 

 succeeded admiraldy, being lucky 

 enough to procure two Coots, one Thick 

 billefl Grebe and one poor.forlorn Spoon 

 bill, which I think took pity on me 

 and committed suicide just to save my 

 reputation. Well I expect to do better 

 next time: the reader must remendjcr 

 thnt T was souicwiiat verdant, as this 



