THE RESTORATION OF WILD FOWL 115 



Mr. De Visme Shaw in discussing this subject says: 

 "We now come to the question of luring wild duck to 

 frequent a certain piece of water as a feeding spot and to 

 afiford sport at flight time. When practiced near a part 

 of the coast or any inland district frequented by duck, 

 the system I am about briefly to describe invariably com- 

 mands success. 



"There must be a pond, either natural or artificial, to 

 serve as the home of the decoy ducks. Though quite a 

 small piece of water will answer the purpose in view, it 

 is advisable that the pond be not less than a quarter of 

 an acre in extent, while half an acre is better. A perfect 

 pond can be made at small expense by cutting ai pass 

 athwart a marsh dyke. There should be some rough 

 cover dotted around the water; the bank should shelve 

 gently and should be of considerable area. It is here 

 that corn is scattered, and it is one's object to ensure 

 that the decoy birds and birds flighting early shall be 

 unable to clear up the food before the advent of late ar- 

 rivals. Scattering grain thinly over a wide surface 

 achieves this end. 



"The decoy birds may be either a cross between the 

 common game duck and the mallard or a further cross 

 having the halfbred bird as one parent and the pure mal- 

 lard as the other. I consider the former preferable when 

 one's pond is within or near to a locality frequented by 

 wild birds and the latter when it is more or less remote 

 therefrom. 



"The greater the proportion of domestic blood the 

 stronger the attachment to home ; the greater the propor- 

 tion of wild blood the wider the range of the birds and 

 the better the prospect of establishing leads from a dis- 



