Page 55 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

    A half-killed bird escaping on to the pond will do great damage to the Decoy. This accident I have known occur more than once. The more expeditiously the fowl can be taken out of the tunnel net, and silenced, the better. The net should be dragged a little distance if many fowl are in it, so that their flutterings cannot by any possibility reach the hearing of the uncaught, but ever suspicious, birds on the Decoy pond.
    The tunnel net can be held firmly between his knees by the Decoyman, as he takes out the captives one by one, kills them, and throws them on one side. (See page 22.)
    But killing deftly is of importance, and can be best learnt from some practised Decoyman. The bird is pulled out of the tunnel by the neck, the neck is then twisted into a ring, and kept in that position with the left hand, whilst the right hand gives the dislocating jerk; all the work of an instant.     If live birds are wanted, as is often the case, their wings are crossed at the first joint, one being twisted behind and round the other, till they are securely put into a basket. They will not run, and have no power of flying, or even fluttering, when in this position.

    I will next shortly criticise the more important of the plans of Decoys given throughout the book.
    Eight-pipe Decoy (facing page 167). This Decoy is far too large, and has too many pipes for ordinary use. The more pipes, the more expense and trouble incurred. If fowl frequented a neighbourhood in vast numbers, as was the case when such fine Decoys existed, then it would be well adapted to catch extensively. But unless its takes reached an average total of 5,000 ducks annually, such an elaborate Decoy is quite unnecessary. A Decoy with only five pipes would in these days be quite large enough, even in the best preserved districts for wildfowl, and where they abound the most.
    Six-pipe Decoy (facing page 122) (a seven would not answer or be symmetrical). This is a well-planned Decoy, it is true, but a five-pipe one would catch as many fowl.
    The chief object of a Decoy is to have its pipes so that they will suit every wind; this a five will do as well as a six-pipe one. I may point out that in an eight- or six-pipe Decoy, two pipes, or even three, may some-times be worked with the same wind, thus giving, if fowl are present in great numbers, a much larger bag.