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in fresh waters and village quarters. If the wildfowl fail, he may be compensated by a bag of snipes; and, should both fall short, there is the game to resort to, if the adjacent lands are not strictly preserved; and if they are, the waters will not long remain untenanted by the ducks. I mostly take a voyage in my punt about March, as the weather and the water are less piercing and cold than in the winter months; and one can add a little trammelling and trolling to the day, if the fowl are thin or unapproachable. Besides, as I have said before, one sport assists the other; and many an observation may be made and noted down in the sportsman's memorandum-book in January which will materially assist him in March, and vice versû. This winter the wildfowl, of all kinds, have been scarce hereabouts; but what is the consequence? They will be more plentiful in spring. The sharp and sudden black frosts which came upon us after the 4th of December banished them from our washes and rivers; nor will they return until the floods of March or April have inundated the meadows and insured them a good supply of food and ample range over the watery world. The same may be said of the snipes; for it has been long remarked by those who have paid attention to migratory birds and particular localities, that these two come and go together. There is a peculiarity about the plumage of the mallard, not generally known, but very interesting, as well to the naturalist as to the sportsman.

"At the close of the breeding season," says Waterton, "the drake undergoes a very remarkable change of plumage. On viewing it, all speculation on the part of the ornithologist is utterly confounded; for there is not the smallest clue afforded him by which he may be enabled to trace out the cause of the strange phenomenon. To Him alone who has ordered the ostrich to remain on the earth, and allowed the bat to range through the ethereal vault of heaven, is known why the drake, for a very short period of the year, should be so completely clothed in the raiment of the female, that it requires a keen, penetrating eye to distinguish the one from the other."

Glancing my eye over this paper, I find nothing said as to the usual load or the size of shot used in duck-shooting. A hand-gun for ducks should never be less than twelve-gauge, and even if it be wider the better; but I am speaking of a double-barrel, which is the best from land. This will carry two ounces of shot, and there is nothing gained by adding more; and No. 2 is the best of all numbers. The powder-charge should be two drachms and a half. As to the great guns, they vary from carrying ten ounces to a pound of shot, with powder in the like proportion as the shoulder-gun. For the great gun coarser grain should be used, as the fine powder adheres too closely to the sides, and is spoiled in loading. The shot are from No. 1 to B and double B, as the gun is pointed at ducks, widgeon, geese, or hoopers.

10th January, 1845.

WING'D AND ON THE WING.

ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY D, CUNLIFFB.

Sweet Auburn's bard, the village pride-
For something new being rather press'd-
Affirm'd affection true and tried

Could only warm the turtle's nest.
By this, to plodding, prosy eyes,

Poem of fiction strong may smack :
Don't Cupid breathe his warmest sighs
In dearest ducky-Quack, quack, quack!

The morn was clear, the breeze was keen
That whistled o'er the Lincoln fen,
When Sol, just peeping forth, was seen
To watch the ways of ducks and men;
And none, of all that marshy race

Who came across him in his track,
Look'd half so cozey as a brace

Who lisp'd their loves in Quack, quack, quack!

The gallant, gay in green and gold-
The lady, neat in Quaker brown:
A mallard, worthy artist's mould-
A duck, the carriage up to Town.
Alas! that man, empower'd by law,
Such happiness should e'er attack.
Hark! hush!-By Jove! a spaniel's paw-
And up they hurry-Quack, quack, quack!

Higher and higher up they soar,
While hope increases as they rise;
It cannot be there's hope no more-
The darling little ducky dies.
That savage keeper few can shirk-

Just at the nick you heard the crack;
Morrison's pills in vain would work,
To save another Quack, quack, quack!
And shall he go, or shall he stay?
Desert his chosen in her need?
Perish the thought !-ere he'll away,

His heart of hearts' best blood shall bleed.

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NIMROD'S ANALYSIS OF THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN." 101

I say, my friend, don't feign "the slows"-
There's t'other barrel at your back.
The hint's enough; straight off he goes
Forsaking little Quack, quack, quack!

Over the lake at Kensington
A mallard now in safety sails,
Free of the gardens, court, the Ton-
Free from Fortune's grievous gales;
A knowing cast (delivered he,

From scenes that care or comfort lack)

Where dogs and slaves in livery

Are stay'd from hunting Quack, quack, quack!

NIMROD'S ANALYSIS

OF

"THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN," BY THOMAS SMITH, ESQ., LATE MASTER OF THE CRAVEN.

Mr. Smith next gives good advice to fox-hunters, such as to be careful to avoid passing through covers likely to be drawn on the day, lest they should disturb a good wide-awake fox; and to say all they may have to say to the huntsman before he commences operations, lest they should not get a civil answer. He, the huntsman, has many things on his mind which lookers-on do not think about, nor have they occasion to do so. Our author also advises his field always to have the hounds in their view, both before and after they find (if they can), as that is the only sure way of avoiding disappointment from their slipping away unexpectedly with their fox, and, as is the case with a burning scent, with so little music as not to be heard at a distance from them. "It is the pace," he says, "which stops the music;" and when a large cover is being drawn, in which the hounds cannot often be seen, he recommends his field to keep down wind of them, in a line which they believe to be about parallel with them, but not too forward, lest they might head a fox. On the subject of hallooing a fresh-found fox, Mr. Smith repeats the often proffered advice, never to halloo till he is well away-across a good-sized field, or he may head short back." And he likewise recommends a distinction in the halloos, as circumstances may arise. For example -"Tally O! away," if the fox is gone clear away; and, "Tally O! back," if he heads back. This distinction certainly would often be of great use to both huntsman and his whips, who would at once know what to do, and also to the field. Mr. Smith, however, condemns too much hallooing, inasmuch as some foxes that would fly at first,

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