Wild Ducks Part 4

Suddenly one bird with outstretched wings will dash madly on the surface of the water, and behaving much in the same way as a flapper chased by a dog, throw itself into the air, and dive suddenly on alighting again: in a moment this is taken up by every bird on the water, until one sees the extraordinary sight of two or three hundred ducks behaving just as if they were mad. They dash in all directions and appear quite unable to control themselves. When all this is noticed there is pretty sure to be rain within twelve hours.

The last but by no means least sporting form of duck shooting must now receive a little attention. I allude to Flight Shooting. As winter comes on the ducks' natural instincts have begun to a.s.sert themselves, and regularly at dusk, heads will go up, and a peculiar uneasiness manifest itself: very shortly the birds will fly off, after one or two preliminary circles round, to the feeding ground they have selected, though if properly fed they will not go far. All that has to be done is to observe where the ducks feed, and place the guns either in the line of flight between the birds' home and their feeding ground or round the feeding ground itself.

No sport is more fascinating than this--the absolute solitude, the dull red glow of the light fading in the west, gradually getting fainter and fainter, the light s.h.i.+ver of the reeds, as a breath of wind rustles through them, and best of all the whistle of beating pinions high overhead, betokening the welcome intelligence that birds are circling round, and making a full inspection of the feeding ground before alighting. Don't move now whatever you do, your retriever, sitting close at your side, will move his head quite enough, without your stirring as well: if you watch him you will soon get a pretty good idea as to where the birds are.

Presently the noise becomes louder, and then with a loud "swish" the birds come right at you. Throw up your gun quietly and quickly and fire at once--don't dwell on your aim, and let us hope that the dog has no difficulty in retrieving a bird that was evidently cleanly killed.

Ducks, like other birds, always alight facing the wind, and this fact must be borne in mind when selecting the stand. Should there be no wind to speak of, it is best to face the fading light, unless the ducks are known to make a practice of coming from one particular direction.

They are most capricious birds, here to-day, and gone to-morrow, but this all adds to the fascination of the sport. I remember once killing eight ducks at a particular spot one evening, and not even getting a shot the next, although there were hundreds of ducks in the neighbourhood. Very different sport to this does one get in the East.

The man who goes Flight Shooting there is almost certain of good sport, provided he knows what he is about. Well I remember a certain evening in Upper Burmah. It was at Alon on the river Chindwin, and during the last Burmese war.

We were not supposed to go far from the Fort, but if we took an armed escort with us, no objection was raised.

There was a large "jheel" about two miles from the Fort, which was much overshot by the small garrison quartered there, and during the day little could be seen on its surface besides a few whistling teal, a duck that gives poor sport, and is only just worth eating.

I discovered, however, that at dusk hundreds of ducks returned to the "jheel" from all directions, remaining there probably until dawn.

Followed by my soldier servant as an escort, I made my way to the "jheel," and having made our pa.s.sage in one of the frail boats, known as "dug-outs," we eventually arrived at a small island which I had selected for my stand.

Never shall I forget that evening. For about twenty minutes I shot nearly as fast as I could load, and not too well, I am afraid.

Ducks of several different varieties were coming fast, and at all angles and elevations.

Many an old sportsman will understand my difficulties. I had of course no second gun, no ejector, and at times I utterly forgot the motto "Festina lente."

At last it was over, and I went home moderately satisfied with about five-and-twenty ducks, leaving, alas! a large number unpicked, as we had no dog.

When your shoot is over, and the season is drawing to its close, the only work left amongst the ducks is to select the breeding stock for next season.

The best to keep are long and well-furnished birds, as they always fly better, and lay more eggs than the short thick-set variety: they should have rakish-looking heads, with long bills, chrome yellow tinged with green in the case of the drake, and dull brown fringed with bright orange in the case of the duck. The eyes should be set high in the head, and the head itself _appear_ to be slightly angular in appearance, and not too round at the crown. I believe in fairly light coloured birds, as I have always noticed that any strange birds that arrive appear lighter in colour than my own, and I think that the darker and coa.r.s.er birds do not fly so well. In any case get rid of all short thick-set birds--they will do for the table, but not for sport.

In taking leave of my readers, I hope that I may have been fortunate enough to secure a little of their interest, and that this book may prove of some a.s.sistance to those who, like myself, love wild duck, and consider a few hours spent daily in their company an education and a treat.