A MORNING WITHOUT THE BIRDS. 31 
sufficient to give the gunner remunerative and satisfactory- 
sport for one or more days at a time. These birds are of all 
sizes, from the sickle-bill curlew, that stands as high as a 
Shanghai chicken and weighs one-half as much, down to the 
tiny “ ox-eye,” or “hawk’s eye ’’—the name and its deriva¬ 
tion both being in doubt—which is about as big as a wren and 
furnishes as much food as though one bit one’s thumb. But, 
large and small, they are all possessed of eyes so brilliant and 
clear, and powers of flight so strong, that they would rarely 
be shot were they as shy and crafty as they are strong and 
beautiful. Their social qualities and individual affections 
are too largely developed for their good. A “ solitary trav¬ 
eler,” or a flock making its way safely up in the blue empy¬ 
rean, far beyond the reach of even a “ wire cartridge,” on 
perceiving another flock, real or imitated, calls aloud with 
pleasure in soft, musical whistling notes, and on receiving an 
answer—a poor simulation often of its own call—descends 
confidingly to death and destruction. There are few more 
exciting experiences in the sportsman’s life than in 
“whistling up” a flock of bay snipe to the decoys. The 
man conceals himself in an artificial “blind,” or by piling 
seaweed up around him, while he lies on his back in a water¬ 
proof coat. Our Fishery Commissioner was a sporting syba¬ 
rite, and sat in a camp chair and had an artist’s umbrella 
to shield him from an excess of sun, so he had to build a tall 
blind of bushes. The Superintendent, always discovering 
new ways of doing things, while he approved the camp chair, 
repudiated the tall bushes and built up a huge rampart of sea¬ 
weed, simply because seaweed was abundant along the shore, 
and so seaweed being naturally there should have been the 
best thing as a cover. But the Commissioner argued that 
such a mountain of seaweed would scare all the birds out of 
the bay. 
The decoys, or “stools” as they are usually called, are 
made of wood in a rough way and painted not mere like the 
natural bird than the law allows. A long stick is thrust into 
their body for the double purpose of legs and to set them up 
with on a shallow, sandy point, which is always chosen. 
