ON THE VARIOUS METHODS OF SHOOTING DUCKS 
Ducks of various kinds, both surface-feeding and diving, are of such different dispositions, 
and often so dissimilar in their habitats, that it may be of use to those who desire to 
make a collection of these birds that there should be a chapter devoted exclusively to 
their pursuit and the different ways by which they may be killed. 
It is not too much to say that, taken as a whole, ducks and geese are by far the 
finest birds of the chase which we or other countries possess, because most of the species 
are either gifted with high intelligence or live in such places that their pursuit is often 
difficult and sometimes dangerous. No sportsman, in the true sense of the word, cares 
to kill a bird stupid by nature or easy to hit, or if he does he is either a lazy or an 
indifferent gunner. On the other hand, there are thousands of good sportsmen in these 
islands who seem to take much pleasure in the frequent failure and the occasional success 
that is the lot of the wild-fowler. Such sport not only draws out the true spirit of the 
hunter, but leads him into sights, scenes, and experiences that can only be enjoyed by 
the genuine man, for it is the triumph over obstacles that is the very essence of any 
form of work or play. 
The naturalist-sportsman can have no better object than to make a collection of the 
various ducks and geese that frequent our islands, and to achieve this is not easy, and 
will take him at least eighteen to twenty years, when all his winters must be spent 
in the haunts of wild fowl at home, and the summers in the Arctic or sub-Arctic regions, 
where the climate is usually as good and often better than our own. Unless he is a 
rich man, it is also necessary that he should be able to prepare his own specimens, 
for there are many occasions when it is not possible to send birds to local taxidermists. 
To gain such a collection is full of absorbing interest, as it will occupy much time spent 
in the open air, as well as pleasant evenings at home, when specimens can be labelled 
and notes taken of any point of interest not as yet recorded by any previous observers. 
The writer of these volumes has spent thirty years in pursuit of duck, and he is 
fully conscious that there are still some gaps which it ought to be the object of the 
sportsman-naturalist to fill up. Interesting trips to North- Western Alaska, Kamschatka, 
the Lena Delta, and Northern Labrador could still be made with success, and fresh 
information gained as to the courtship and nesting habits of various species that are 
not very well known at present, whilst there is still a vast field for exploration amongst 
the ducks of Africa, Malay States, and South America. There is not, in fact, any 
genera of birds that will afford so great an amount of sport combined with scientific 
study, and the man who is prepared to undertake long journeys into the wild places 
of the earth in pursuit of ducks and geese has before him a task of absorbing interest 
only equalled by the chase of the great mammals. 
In the British Islands there are various methods of shooting ducks. The surface- 
feeders may be killed by walking up or driving marshes or small lakes, flighting at 
