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responded to by birds of passage, their language probably not being intelligible. This fact has been ascertained by experiment, and may be verified by those who have large pieces of water suitable for wildfowl, by procuring a few brace of common French ducks, breeding from them, and confining them to these localities. Roostingplaces may be made for them amongst the reeds, on the sides of the water, or on an island if there be one, so that they may be on the water at all times when their instinct may take them there; and it will then be seen that as soon as the passage of wildfowl, in the early part of winter, commences, your Frenchmen will have numerous companions.

If the pool be extensive, places of concealment suitable for the breeding of fowl, away from any thoroughfare, should be made, so that the wildfowl may not be disturbed, and of course not shot at. Many will remain to breed, both ducks and teal; they breed in Scotland in the heather, and amongst rushes contiguous to the fresh-water lochs, and give very good sport in the months of July and August; after which they make their way down to the sea-water lochs, and remain there for winter sport during the day, returning at night to feed by or near some stream or freshwater loch.

But to return to the system of hutting'

in France-I must not omit to mention that nets instead of guns are sometimes used, and with success. These are fixed in a frame of slightlymade woodwork, with two wings, one on either side of the piece of water, the decoy-ducks being in the centre; the huttier having a small cord fastened to the stick which supports either net, by the removal of which both nets fall simultaneously, enclosing whatever wildfowl may be in the centre. If this plan were well carried out, it would be much more productive than the gun; but it would seem that there are difficulties in the way, from its not being generally adopted.

I recollect a Frenchman telling me of a friend of his, a huttier, living on the coast near Etaples, having on one occasion enclosed so large a quantity of ducks that his net gave way in all directions, and he only succeeded in securing seven or eight of them: his loss of course was considerabie, and his friend observed, 'Il en a pleuré du chagrin.' The probability is that the net was some old fishing-net, half-rotten; but the fact of his having been able to enclose so large a number of wildfowl is sufficient evidence that the principle was good, and that his want of complete success arose solely from his bad tackle.

I have occasionally been in these huts, but never had much sport; but even if I had had, I should never have become attached to this de

scription of shooting, as I dislike the confinement so much that no amount of game would be any compensation. As a continuous pursuit, the

charm in shooting appears to me to consist more in the inducement to exercise-imparting health, vigour of body and mind, and good spirits-than in the amount of game slaughtered. Of course every sportsman likes to kill a certain quantity of game as a reward for his exertions, but I do not think the large amount killed is always an evidence of the pleasure and sport that has been had.

For my own part, I would much rather shoot over a wild country where there was a mixture of game, where the result of the day's sport depended upon my own exertions, and where in the morning, before starting, I should be in a pleasing state of doubt and uncertainty as to the quantity and kind of game I might kill,-than shoot over highly-preserved land, where the amount to be killed was limited and fixed before starting, so that I should know nearly to a certainty how much I could kill, as well as the description of game. But de gustibus non est disputandum :' so I will say no more upon this point, but return to my relinquished ground in the marais, and to the operations of the huttiers thereon.

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As long as the weather remains fine and open, they go regularly every night to their huts; but

when there is no moon, and the nights are very dark, and their chances of sport reduced, they do not go so regularly. The twilight is then of short duration, and when night once sets in the obscurity is so great that although they might hear the ducks in the water before them, they would not at all times be able to discern them, so as to take a shot, and would therefore be compelled to await with patience their chance at daybreak; but as one good shot repays those who go at night, they seldom desert their posts till after daybreak.

When a frost takes place, if it only lasts a few days, it does not much interfere with their sport, or rather success. They break the ice with a pole, fix their decoy-ducks, and keep the centre as clear and open as they can, and sometimes make some capital shots. When the frost continues beyond two or three days, the nocturnal part of the business is relinquished, and they merely go to their huts in the morning, an hour before daybreak, and try their chance; after which they resort to the river, which in a severe frost gives good sport, and attracts a host of chasseurs, especially on Sunday: then every man who has a porte d'arme is sure to be out, and a great many who have not immediately make a rapid retreat on the appearance of a gendarme.

From Montreuil to Etaples, a distance of about

three miles, the latter place being on the seacoast, there is an excellent river for wildfowl shooting in every respect suitable. In the first place, it is not more than from forty to sixty yards in breadth, till within a mile of Etaples, where it empties itself into the sea-in this latter distance it is about double its former breadth: in the next place, it pursues a very circuitous and serpentine course, forming inviting angles, corners, and nooks for wildfowl to drop in; and as throughout the distance the banks are high and overhanging, every opportunity is afforded to the sportsman of close approximation to the objects of his search, when either observed from a distance in the river, or seen to drop into it.

The numerous turns and bends in the river afford also endless places of concealment as the wildfowl approach from the sea, either at the usual hours of flight or at the rising of the tide ; and first-rate sport might always be had during a frost, if it were not marred by the superabundance of chasseurs. Early in the morning, and sometimes during the day, when the weather was very severe, I have had capital sport; the flights of fowl were numerous and large, and when the tide rose they came inland in quick succession, following the course of the river, and generally within gunshot-some dropping in the river, others pursuing their aërial course.

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