THE WIGEON AND POCHARDS iTi 



of fowl were there if you could only get at them 

 with the gun. 



The decoys captured the fowl, Ducks, Teal, Pin- 

 tails, Wigeon, and Pochards, but the Pochards were 

 captured in a different way to the other fowl : the 

 piece of water arranged for their benefit was called 

 a pond. Round the pond were high nets fixed to 

 poles that lay flat on the ground. These nets were 

 placed near the edge of the Pochard-pond, and at 

 the foot of each net a deep trench was dug. 



When there was a good lead on the pond, from 

 seven to eight hundred or a thousand, the fowl were 

 raised off the pond. As the nets were arranged 

 with balance weights, directly a string was pulled 

 they stood upright. According to the direction of 

 the wind the nets were used. It takes a Pochard 

 some time to rise clear of the water and well above 

 it ; they rise head to wind. 



All is right for the catch. They are raised up 

 and away they go. Just before they reach the edge 

 of the pond, up fly one or two of the long high nets, 

 and they hit against the meshes like a swarm of 

 flies, only they do not stop there. They simply 

 flutter or drop down the net into the trench at the 

 foot anyhow, one on the top of the other. There 

 they lie helpless ; they are not able to make use of 

 their wings when they are in the trench. 



One great catch of Pochards is a notorious fact 

 well known all along the fore-shores. It is the one 

 Folkard has mentioned in his Wildfowler \xv 1875. 



When writing about the Pochard-ponds he tells 



