324 
which the sport is still followed, it is hardly 
necessary to observe how highly they are 
esteemed, and what place they hold as a 
delicacy upon the table. 
To describe these various contrivances 
would far exceed our limits, it will not be 
proper however, to omit noticing the decoy, 
which from its superiority over every other 
method, promises to continue long in use ; 
for in that mode the Mallard and other 
Ducks are taken in great numbers at a 
time; whereas all the other schemes of 
lying in ambush, shooting, baited hooks, 
wading in the water with the head covered 
in a perforated wooden vessel, or in a ca- 
labash, &c. are attended with much watch- 
ing, toil, and fatigue; and are also 
comparatively trifling in point of success. 
The author of the Rural Sports says 
that " A Decoy is generally situated in a 
marsh, so as to be surrounded with wood 
or reeds, and, if possible, both, the better 
to keep the pond quiet, and that the repose 
of the fowl may not be interrupted ; for 
the greatest part of the animal world pass 
their lives in a state between sleep and 
