BLINDS AND DECOYS. 
I T depends very much upon the character of the place 
where you go, and the variety of birds which you in¬ 
tend to shoot, what kind of a blind or bough-house to 
build for your concealment. If on the edge of some large 
bay or broadwater, for general shooting a stand may be 
erected that will screen you while seated on a comforta¬ 
ble bench. But if you select some bar or beach where the 
birds come to feed at low water, or along which the willet 
fly a box sunk in the sand is the most killing device. The 
box should be long enough to allow the gunner to lie in it 
comfortably, and its width should be several inches in excess 
of the breadth of his shoulders. From ten to fifteen inches 
will be of sufficient depth. It should be made of three-fourth 
inch stuff, caulked and pitched on the outside and in, thus 
making it thoroughly water-tight. At one end, near the top, 
an iron staple should be clinched, to which a half-inch rope 
of about seven feet in length should be fastened. This will 
be found useful in towing the box behind a skiff, or for drag¬ 
ging it over the sand. A useful article will be found in an 
old spade. Should you find that large birds, such as curlew, 
marlin and willet, have a roos'ing-place on one of the bald 
marshes, the box described above should be used, or. if 
thoroughfares dissect the marsh, you can paddle your skiff, 
which should be painted green, up one of the drains toward 
the spot where the birds lower their flight., or circle over be¬ 
fore alighting, and conceal it in the highest tuft of grass. 
Curlew, and especially the “ jack,” do not stool well wheie a 
blind has been erected. They are wary at best and wild 
when their favorite haunts have an unnatural look. Not so, 
however, with many of the other varieties. Willet almost 
invariably stool well, and both the marlins are unsuspecting. 
The large and sma11 y ellowle S 8 > Switches, robin snipe and 
