314 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
until the winter sets in.* Multitudes of Wild-ducks do como 
down from the moors, during harvest, to feed upon the corn¬ 
fields on the banks of some of the larger lochs, and, when the 
stubble becomes bare, return to the moor-lochs until these are 
frozen over, which again drives them back. This is the only 
foundation for the vulgar error. A day or two is generally 
sufficient to freeze over these little lochs, and their occupants 
then come down to the larger ones, the greater parts of which 
remain open long after the storm has set in. Now is the time 
for the wild-fowl shooter : if the ground is covered with snow, 
so much the better. The fowl are then in groups close to the 
shore, pinched with cold and hunger, seeking shelter and a 
scanty morsel. If at the same time it is windy, with drifts of 
snow, no weather can be more propitious for Ducks, Widgeon, 
Teal, and all wild-fowl that feed at the margin. When the 
snow is falling thick and fast, a capital sitting shot may some¬ 
times be obtained, though the ground be so bare as to offer no 
concealment. In most cases, however, it is best not to take the 
cover off your gun till the shower moderates a little, as snow is 
so apt to penetrate, and make it miss fire. 
“ If the weather be open, the higher the wind the better, as 
it drives to the shore whatever fowl are upon the loch, although 
until the frost sets in they will be comparatively few. 
“ The most auspicious weather for divers is one of those frosty 
days, accompanied by mist, when the loch is perfectly calm, and 
looks like a mirror dimmed by one’s breath. You may then 
hear their plash in the water—sometimes even before they can 
be seen—and, if care is taken to make no rustling among the 
bushes, when they are above the water, you have every pros- 
* These observations on the seasons of these birds in Great Britain, might, 
perhaps, have been omitted ; but I consider the whole of this extract so very 
able and correct, that, taking into consideration the vast extent and variety of 
latitude covered by the shooting grounds of America, in some of which the cli¬ 
mate closely resembles that of England, I have not been able to prevail on my¬ 
self to omit it ; as I doubt not there are places at which the cap will be found 
to fit, and the hints of consequenco to be useful. 
