WILD DUCKS. 273 
as they keep steadily calling to their passing companions, 
and these being exceedingly gregarious, answer the 
summons, only to meet their death. ‘The domestic va- 
riety are also useful for calling, but if they are to be 
fastened to stakes, either on land or in the water, they 
should be accustomed to the use of the tether for some 
time at home before being taken into the field, otherwise 
they will strain at the cord, and, by their sprawling and 
squawking, scare away all the birds that see or hear 
them. If they have been trained for their business, 
however, they take matters easy, and seem to actually 
delight in bringing their wild kindred within range of 
the leaden hail, if one were to judge from their persist- 
ent and clamorous calling. Dead ducks, when used on 
land, ought to have their heads placed under their wings, 
in order to give them as natural an appearance of resting 
as possible, or the heads may be propped up with corn- 
stalks or sharp branchlets stuck in the ground. The 
system of decoying, so common in Holland, of throw- 
ing trained tame ducks into the air when a wild flock 
passes by, is not practised in the West, for turf huts are 
not often used as blinds, and few market-hunters know 
anything of the devices practised by the Dutch huttiers. 
Diving decoys, which seem to be unknown in Holland, 
are occasionally used, however, especially in calm weath- 
er. These are readily made and very effective. 
The only materials necessary for manufacturing them 
are a canvas bag, capable of holding a few pounds of 
sand or stone, a long line, and a pulley-block. The 
latter is attached to the mouth of the bag, and the cord 
is run through the pulley-block, and fastened under the 
breast of the decoy by means of a screw-eye. The bag is 
then filled with sand or stones, and dropped in the water 
on the shooting ground; the end of the cord is next 
taken to the blind, and when ducks approach on the 
wing, or alight out of range in the water, the string is 
