THE GAME BREEDER 



15 



of those who are to be given their lives 

 and alas! to wring the necks of the rest, 

 whose ignominious end is a prelude to 

 their appearance in the market. 



The Wild Duck Decoy. 



A decoy is simply a piece of water of 

 a certain size, from which radiate shal- 

 low, curving channels spanned by cres- 

 cent shaped supports. The supports 

 sustain net, forming a tunnel, known as 

 a pipe. The number of pipes may be 

 from one to a dozen or so, according to 

 the size of the water. The Wrentham, de- 

 coy, in Norfolk, has ten pipes, a larger 

 number than that possessed by any 

 other active decoy in the Eastern coun- 

 ties, if not in our islands. Iron supports, 

 their ends firmly embedded in the soil 

 on either side of the channel, are used 

 at the mouth of the pipe and for some 

 distance down, and saplings as the 

 channel narrows. The supports are 

 placed at intervals of about five feet. 

 These arches are usually about twelve 

 feet high and twenty feet wide at the 

 mouth of the pipe. They become small- 

 er and smaller, till at the end of the pipe 

 they are only two feet high ; thus when 

 the whole structure is covered with net 

 we have a gradually narrowing and 

 curving pipe, the course of which can- 

 not be seen by the duck till their retreat 

 is cut ofif. At the end of the pipe is a 

 detachable bag-shaped net known as a 

 tunnel net. The length of a pipe is usu- 

 ally about seventy yards. On the bank 

 of the decoy, and for some way down 

 the convex side of the pipe, are screens 



six feet high and covered with rushes, so 

 arranged ineschelon that the decoyman 

 can pursue his tactics without being seen 

 by the birds on the water, and yet can 

 show himself or allow his dog to show 

 jtself at any point. The tall screens usu- 

 ally are connected by low ones, over 

 which the dog, commonly known as a 

 "piper," is able to jump without diffi- 

 culty . . . Ducks are enticed into 

 the pipes either by means of decoy 

 birds or by the antics of a dog, carefully 

 trained for the work. . . At last all- 

 the lagging fowl of the gathering have 

 entered the pipe. Then without a sound, 

 the decoyman darts back to the mouth 

 of the pipe, where unseen by other 

 bunches of duck on the decoy, he sud- 

 denly shows himself to the birds under 

 the net. At the sight of him and his 

 waving handkerchief the . trapped birds 

 rise in a cloud and fly up the narrowing 

 pipe. The decoyman, on the bank, fol- 

 lows them at headlong speed. A few 

 moments later he is engaged in extract- 

 ing his victims, one by one, from the 

 tunnel net and wringing their necks. 



A large number of these decoys are 

 operated in England, Wales and Ireland 

 and many wild ducks are procured for 

 the market. The first decoy was set up 

 in the reign of James II. Decoying was 

 practiced in Holland prior to the time of 

 Sir William Woodhouse, who construct- 

 ed the first English decoy. Fifteen 

 thousand fowl have been taken in a de- 

 coy in a season. — DeVisne Shaw cited 

 in "Our Wild Fowl and Waders." 



NOTES FROM THE GAME FARMS AND PRESERVES. 



The Game Market. 



The market for live pheasants which 

 was excellent at the opening of the sea- 

 son made rapid gains and the prices rose 

 rapidly as we predicted they would. 

 Last month common ring-necked and 

 dark necked pheasants sold readily at 

 $8.00 per pair, and sales were reported 



at $10.00 per pair, which is the highest 

 price ever paid for these birds. 



Practically all of the birds offered 

 have been sold and those who have ad- 

 vertised for birds have had few replies 

 the offerings being very small and for 

 the most part consisting of only a few 

 cock birds. There has been an excellent 



