RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 413 
you have good luck you may get one bird, and 
then back into the blind to try for more. 
For two or three hours in the morning fair 
sport may be had over decoys, but when the sun 
is fairly on his daily round the birds are mostly 
on their feeding grounds and not moving much, 
so that few come near the ‘‘tolers.’’ Now is 
the time to ‘‘scull’’ them in the float. It is no 
easy matter to get within killing distance of a 
Shelldrake even in the innocent looking ‘‘gun- 
ning punt,’’ for he is by no means careless or 
stupid. For my own part I think the labor is 
too severe and the reward too uncertain, and 
seldom take the trouble to pursue them in a 
float, no matter how sharp an attack of ‘‘gun 
fever’’ is upon me. ‘‘The game is hardly 
worth the candle.’’ 
The flesh of this or any other of the family 
save the Hooded Merganser is not noted for any 
especial excellence as food, most people pre- 
ferring to eat fish in its ordinary form. 
The Red-breasted Merganser is smaller than 
the Goosander and has a pronounced crest, 
which, though thin and flimsy in the female, is 
present in both sexes. The male bird’s head is 
