552 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



cousins, their solicitous calling is too much, and they 

 ^re the means of bringing to death many and many ati 

 old duck whose age of discretion has long since passed. 



Of decoys for wild geese, with the exception of the 

 live birds, the only kind I have yet seen to my liking 

 are the " profile " described in this volume on " Wild 

 Goose Shooting." 



Duck-Calls : The power of mimicry in man has f uU 

 scope for vent in wild-fowl shooting. Some men are 

 natural mimics, others are sadly deficient in such 

 jpowers, and for the latter the artificial duck's quack is 

 a blessing — that is, if it is properly used. But when 

 we take into consideration the great army of duck- 

 hunters and think for a moment how little they know 

 the art of calling, we are at a loss to know the reason 

 why. The majority of hunters invest in a duck call. 

 They gaze upon it with admiration, squint into its muzzle 

 ■of bell-shaped horn, look captiously around to see if 

 they are observed, then 'place it in their mouth, fill 

 their lungs with air, give a violent blow, and the air 

 xesounds with a discordant "bla-a-a." Not to be dis- 

 couraged at the first attempt, they try again, and by 

 thrusting the extreme end against the palate a sound 

 is blown out in A Minor, which faintly resembles a 

 ■wild duck. A little practice soon obviates this, and 

 the aspirant soon learns to imitate a duck. Imitate 

 liow ? As the bird calls in its different moods ? No 

 he doesn't think of that, the very thing he ought to 

 think of. The result is, he seeks at times to call them 

 to his decoys, and tries this, when he cries to them in 

 tones -which tliey utter only when in fright. The begin- 

 ner should be a student of nature and birds, and watch 

 them in their feeding grounds. Once in a while, some 



