THE JEESEY COAST. 105 



heart, testing his nerves, and filling his bag to reple- 

 tion. When the object is to kill the gi-eatest num- 

 ber possible, they are permitted to alight among the 

 stools and collect together before the gun is fired ; 

 then the first discharge is followed rapidly by the 

 second, which tears among their thinned ranks as 

 they rise ; and, if there be a second gun, by the third 

 and fourth barrel, till frequently all are killed. The 

 scientific and sportsmanlike mode is to fire before 

 they alight, selecting two or three together and fir- 

 ing at the foremost. 



It is a glorious thing to see a flock of marliu or 

 willet, or perhaps the chief of all, the sickle-bills, 

 swerve from their course away up in the heavens, 

 and after a moment's uncertainty reply to the sports- 

 man's deceitful call and turn towards his false copies 

 of themselves. As they approach, the rich sienna 

 brown of the marlin and curlew seems to color the 

 sky and reflect a ruddy hue upon surrounding ob- 

 jects ; or the black and white of the barred wings of 

 the willet makes them resemble birds hewn from 

 veined marble. The sportsman's heart leaps to his 

 throat, as crouching down with straining eye and 

 nerve, grasping his faithful gun, he awaits with 

 eager anxiety the proper moment ; then, rising ere 

 they are aware of the danger, he selects the spot 

 where their crowding bodies and jostling wings shut 

 out the clouds beyond, and pours in his first most 

 deadly barrel ; and quickly bringing to bear the 

 other as best he may among the now frightened 

 creatures as they dart about, he delivers it before he 

 5* 



