MORNING MALLARD SHOOTING FALL. 133 



his favorite pastime ; and, excepting for this one 

 purpose, he did not appear desirous of courting 

 the society of any of his kind. He would weigh 

 perhaps fifty pounds, smooth haired, very strongly 

 built, and stood about twenty inches high. It 

 was almost impossible to tire him out. I have 

 known him to retrieve mallards all day in run- 

 ning water for four persons, quite constant shoot- 

 ing, bringing in over two hundred ducks, and 

 going for the last ones as readily as for the first. 

 He returned with a duck as quickly as possible ; 

 never walked or loitered on the way. He could 

 tell when a duck was struck as well as the 

 shooter, and would watch it as eagerly to see 

 if it fell, when he would immediately go after 

 it, sometimes five or six hundred yards. 



1 well remember on one occasion I was sail- 

 ing down the Illinois River with a hunting party, 

 and passing by " Clear Lake," a beautiful sheet 

 of water, saw quite a large flock ot mallards feed- 

 ing near the shore of the lake. I seized my gun, 

 and calling to the dog jumped into a paddle-boat, 

 paddled ashore, and proceeded to " bushwhack " 

 them. The grass was quite high, and by creeping 

 low down on all fours I was enabled to get quite near 

 them. The dog followed close behind me, crouch- 



