POWDER, SHOT AND WADS. 9 
cannot be too fine for your routine collecting. Use ‘‘ mustard- 
seed,” or ‘* dust-shot,” as it is variously called; it is smaller 
than any of the sizes usually numbered. As the very finest 
ean only be procured in cities, provide yourself liberally on 
leaving any centre of civilization for even a country village, 
to say nothing of remote regions. A small bird that would 
have been torn to pieces by a few large pellets, may be riddled 
with mustard-seed and yet be preservable ; moreover, there is, 
as a rule, little or no bleeding from these minute holes, which 
close up by the elasticity of the tissues involved. It is aston- 
ishing what large birds may be brought down with the tiny 
pellets. I have killed hawks with such shot, knocked over a 
wood ibis at forty yards and once shot a wolf dead with No. 
10, though I am bound to say the animal was within a few feet 
of me. After dust-shot, and the nearest number or two, No. 
8 or 7 will be found most useful. Waterfowl, thick-skinned 
sea birds like loons, cormorants and pelicans, and a few of the 
largest land birds, require heavier shot. I have had no ex- 
perience with the substitution of fine gravel or sand, much less 
water, as a projectile; besides shot I never fired anything at a 
bird except my ramrod, on one or two occasions, when I never 
afterwards saw either the bird or the stick. The comparatively 
trivial matter of caps will repay attention. Breech-loaders 
not discharged with a pin take a particular style of short cap 
called a “primer ;” for other guns the best water-proof lined 
caps will prevent annoyance and disappointment in wet weather, 
and may save you an eye, for they only split when exploded ; 
whereas, the flimsy cheap ones—that “GD” trash, for in- 
stance, sold in the corner grocery at ten cents a hundred 
—usually fly to pieces. Moreover, the top of such a cap is 
sometimes driven into the nipple. Using Ely’s caps, I shot a 
whole season in the fog and rain of Labrador, without a single 
miss-fire, though my gun was sometimes dripping. Cut felt 
wads are the only suitable article. Ely’s ‘‘ chemically prepared”’ 
wadding is the best. It is well, when using plain wads, occa- 
sionally to drive a greased one through the barrel. Since you 
may sometimes run out of wads through an unexpected contin- 
