WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 345 



call of the various species of which he is iu pursuit, by 

 ■which he often succeeds in seducing them down from their 

 secure elevation, to seek company with his painted wooden 

 decoys, and find a speedy death. 



The birds which are most easily called down are the 

 Canadian wild geese, the noblest and best of all the tribes 

 taken in this fashion, whose loud and sonorous hawnking is 

 admirably simulated by many of the amphibious natives of 

 the duck-haunted bays, and not a few amateurs. 



The most impracticable of them all is the brant, the 

 gabble of which, somewhat resembling the distant clamor 

 of a pack of hounds in full cry, is generally said to be 

 inimitable to any useful end. 



The skill to be acquired in shooting these birds — for 

 getting shots at them, the amateur gunner is compelled to 

 rely on the skill and cleverness of his guide or boatman — 

 consists only in shooting sufficiently in advance of the 

 passing flocks, or in keeping the gun in such continuous 

 motion, following up their flight, that the shot shall not 

 fall behind them. 



No retriever or dog of any kind is required for this 

 sport in the other sea bays, but in the Chesapeake the best 

 Newfoundland dogs are used, and are, indeed, imperatively 

 necessary. 



In regard to guns, ammunition, and the mode of charg- 

 ing, especially in the avoidance of overloading and the use 

 of too large shot, the rules prescribed heretofore will be 

 found applicable. 



The species of fowl usually killed and most prized, in 

 the Atlantic bays and lagoons, are the wild goose, anas 

 15* 



