214 WILD-FOWL 



Soon the mallards, under the impression that their 

 alarm was false, begin to return singly or in pairs, 

 often in good-sized flocks, and as they come the eager 

 birds, seeing the well-made counterfeits on the water, 

 sail over the pond head up to the wind, and spreading 

 out their tails to break their speed, drop with flapping 

 wings to the water below. As they settle down within 

 easy range they are not hard to hit, but at the shot 

 mallards "climb" rapidly, and the novice must remem- 

 ber to shoot high and forward if he would bring them 

 down. It is an exciting moment when a flock of these 

 large green-heads comes with a rush of wings to settle 

 before the blind. The good shot will take them as 

 they come and go, and not shoot them on the water. 

 At times some travelling, or trading, birds will test the 

 skill of the sportsman far more than those which notice 

 the decoys. That talented English writer, Stuart- 

 Wortley, says he once fired aiming the length of a 

 church ahead of passing flock to see the hindmost one 

 fall dead. 



Mallards are very fond of acorns, and in the over- 

 flow fine shooting is often had about the Western 

 rivers in the woods. I have shot them among the oaks 

 from a boat concealed by brush and branches, and 

 have jumped them on a cruise about the marshes and 

 the sloughs. 



When the birds resort to the open water for their 

 noon-time siesta they should not be disturbed. Bat- 

 teries are sometimes anchored on such grounds and 

 on feeding grounds as well, but their use is most 

 destructive and will drive the unslain birds away. 



Robert Roosevelt said some years ago: " In station- 



