THE COMMON WILD DUCK 189 



surrounded by alders and willows ; pipes, so called, 

 lead from the pond. These pipes are shallow- 

 curved ditches, covered over with netting which is 

 supported by hoops, fourteen, or it may be fifteen feet 

 high at the mouth, gradually diminishing as they 

 curve into a tunnel-net that can easily be taken off 

 and easily replaced. The pipes do not run all one 

 way, they are arranged to suit the shifting of the 

 wind. Gently-sloping grass-banks rise from the 

 edge of the pond, and these are surrounded by a 

 hedge or a cover of some kind to keep the wind 

 off, and to prevent the fowl seeing anything. From 

 the mouth of the pipes reed-screens are arranged 

 in such a manner that the coyman can see the 

 birds, or fowl as they are called, without being 

 seen by them. If he wishes to look at the fowl, 

 he slips a thin piece of lath between the reeds, first 

 parting them a little on one side, and peeps through. 

 Those of my readers who have never seen a decoy 

 will best understand it, when I say that the reed- 

 screens are arranged on the overlapping principle, 

 that is, part of one screen runs by another. The 

 laps or jumps are low barriers that the coyman's 

 dog jumps over on one side of the screen, and out 

 on the other like a flash, to attract the fowl. Those 

 who have as children played the game of " Thread 

 the tailor's needle " will know exactly what the dog's 

 performance is like. 



But before this subject is continued, let me give 

 a slight sketch of the Wild Ducks' habits. They 

 are more or less night-feeders, coming in from open 



