134 British Diving Ducks 
smart to pick up the fallen, and to fire another shot at once at any duck that still shows 
signs of life, or it is generally lost. All these things only come with practice and experi- 
ence, but when once learnt they are finer training for the game-shot than any other form 
of gun-shooting, as they make a man both quick and sure of his aim, owing to the fact 
that the pattern of his shot is invariably telegraphed back to the eye and brain as it hits 
the water. 
One of the essentials in sea-duck shooting is that the hunter should spy his game 
before it takes any notice of the approaching boat. If the birds are down-wind, and the 
wind itself is not too strong, they may be sailed to at once, but if the birds are on either 
flank or upwind, a series of tacks so as to get to windward are necessary, and these move- 
ments must be conducted at such a distance from the birds as not to alarm them. 
It requires no little skill on the part of the man at the tiller to approach sea-ducks 
down-wind when the wind is strong, for the boat in its outward rush is apt to travel too fast 
and to make loud noises as it descends into the trough of the sea. This alarms duck very 
much, and if it occurs more than once will put them to wing whilst still far out of shot. A 
clever steersman will keep his craft at varying angles across the waves so that he does not 
" race," and approaches whilst giving the bird the idea that he intends to sail by. When 
sailing to duck no gib-sheet must be used, and the lug-sail should have one or two reefs 
taken in, so that if at the last moment the duck rise and attempt to pass to the right of the 
boat the steersman may "gibe" and allow the shooter to dodge under the sail and get 
his shot. 
I have always found the best guns for sea-shooting are a double full-choke 12-bore, 
carrying No. 4 shot, and a single or double 8-bore, throwing No. i shot. With these two 
weapons the shooter is prepared for anything that flies within 80 or 90 yards of his 
boat. He should hold the 8-bore in hand and be prepared for a long shot in case the duck 
rise at 100 yards ; but if they sit until within a range of 60 or 50 yards, the 8-bore may 
be dropped and the 12-bore taken up, as the duck are bound to fly upwind towards the boat 
for some 20 yards or so before turning away. 
It is often very difficult to keep your eye on any particular bird in a flock of sea-duck, 
as well as to attend to the shooting, and I found it a good plan to get my second boatman, 
Tom Sinclair, who had wonderful eyesight, to "mark" the specimen wanted and to 
attend to nothing else. As the duck rose in a small flock and approached the boat he 
would call out the number of the bird as it flew past, and in this way mistakes did not often 
occur. 
When sea-ducks are shot for specimens they should be laid on the seats of the boat 
and allowed to drip for some time, as there is always a lot of slime, blood, and digested 
food in the crop that it is well to get rid of. When the bird is fairly dry, blood on the 
head and neck can be skimmed off with a penknife, and all the wounds dressed with cotton- 
wool, and the mouth and nostrils plugged with the same. The bird should then be wrapped 
in soft paper and packed in a waterproof box kept ready for the purpose. A taxidermist 
has very little trouble in making good skins of birds that have been properly attended to 
after being killed, whereas it is difficult to make fine specimens of those that have been left 
for some hours knocking about in a boat with the sea-spray, blood, and water on them. 
If only a few duck are being killed for specimens, the shooter may like to preserve his 
