Duck-shooting 7 



fasted before dawn, and pushed out from the shore 

 into the narrow bay, its surface hardly ruffled by 

 a light breeze. Dark lines marked the points of 

 marsh, as yet indistinct ; a flock of birds leaving 

 the water made the first sound ; then the soft 

 whistling of overhead wings. Quietly the boat 

 moved on; finally the blind was reached. Then 

 the few minutes at sunrise, of anticipation, the 

 first birds, a line coming out of the east, getting 

 blacker and bigger, soon in range over him ; the 

 first shot, and the splash of a fallen bird. Wet 

 and cold days are recalled, when to lie low in 

 the blind was misery, and even the excitement of 

 watching a steady flight of birds could not warm 

 him. Or perhaps, hidden in the ice behind a few 

 decoys, he waited at a hole of open water, too 

 cold to shoot, though ducks were plenty. Yet few 

 men could appreciate better than he a blazing 

 fire or the comfort of plain food and a rough bed. 

 With winter's waning came the procession of wild 

 fowl from the South, to tarry until spring; then 

 the line far overhead leading north — his last 

 glimpse. 



The methods by which wild fowl are hunted 

 vary in different sections of our country. Shoot- 

 ing over decoys is probably the most universal 

 means. In those locations where birds are accus- 

 tomed to the wiles of man, their cunning is a 

 match for his skill, and his skill is great. They 



