110 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



and sticks float immovably on the surface. Don't you 

 suppose the ducks know this? Of course they do. 

 One of the cardinal teachings of their early education 

 was to hunt out these places. It was an early lesson 

 to them, and one they will never forget. It is more 

 natural, then, that they should choose a place where 

 they can leisurely feed, than to be carried along by a 

 swift-flowing, turbulent stream. To get at a place of 

 this kind it is almost always necessary to have a boat. 

 Grant that you have a boat and a good dog, let me put 

 you down in a place of this kind. You hide the boat, 

 drawing it in among the trees out of sight, fill your 

 pockets with shells and are ready for shooting. Look 

 around and see how I have placed you. You are facing 

 the south ; behind you the trees stand closely together, 

 their limbs forbidding shooting in that direction. And 

 again, because the main body of the river flows there, 

 and your dog would soon tire himself out. Take your 

 stand in the blind I have made you, just on the verge 

 of the shallow water. You think the blind isn't high 

 enough ? Why, it is fully 44 feet. Your clothes are 

 corduroy, nearly the color of the trees. The ducks 

 won't see you unless you move, and you will have to 

 stand anyway. So by merely bending your body a 

 trifle, you are hid and simply have to straighten up 

 when ready to shoot. You notice that open place just 

 across the little point ? I know you do, and are won- 

 dering why I haven't put you over there instead of 

 here, for you think then you could shoot on all sides. 

 That is true in one sense, but, were you there, the birds 

 would come high over the timber and commence to 

 lower their flight just as they were getting out of range. 

 As the wind is with them, they always light up wind. 



