OUTFITS, BLINDS, DECOYS AND DUCK-CALLS. 363 



■corpulent matron will forget herself and call out 

 *' quack, quack, quack " in " Won't go home till morn- 

 ing " strains ; but the majority are quiet, feeding along 

 with a "sip-sip-sip," just as you have often seen tame 

 ducks do. Learn to imitate these ; learn to imitate 

 the whistling pin-tail, the widgeon, the "meow", the 

 purring sound of the red-heads, the tenor quack of 

 the shoveller, the soprano of the teal. Listen to the 

 mallard hen, as she calls her mate. Try to call like 

 her. See ! through the forest trees he hears her cry 

 ^nd goes to her. How your blood tingles, as his grat- 

 ing, vibrating call reaches you, so mellow, so tender as 

 it travels through the woods — " M-amph, M-amph." 

 Practice this call, not on the wooden one, but with the 

 ■one nature provided you with. 



The best artificial, calls I have seen are those made 

 by Fred A. Allen. If one is apt he can readily learn 

 i;o blow them, but bear in mind, the secret of duck 

 calling is the right call in the right place, as the birds 

 call in their different flights and resorts. 



My opinion of " goose calls," basing a verdict on 



those I have seen, may be found in the Chapter on 



■*' Canada Goose Shooting." 



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