296

WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA.

Successful Duck-decoying can only be carried on by the fortunate combination of several important essentials. (1) Perfect quietness upon the body of water, large or small, to which the birds come to spend the day. (2) A good set of well-kept pipes, each trending to a cardinal point of the compass, for it is absolutely necessary when a pipe is worked that the wind shall be blowing from the tail of it; for Ducks always swim and fly with their heads to the wind. The pipes are, for this reason, named from the direction in which they point. (3) A well-trained, intelligent dog of small size, quick action, and silent habits. If it resembles a fox in colour so much the better, but this qualification is not now considered so essential as it was in olden times, when the decoy-men attached so much importance to it that they tied the skin of a fox on to a dog's back, and allowed the brush to trail upon the ground. (4) A number of well-trained lure Ducks that will come to the decoy-man's whistle or the sight of his dog, and swim steadily up the pipe; and last, and most important of all, a man of more than average industry, intelligence, and skill.

In order to make this chapter as complete as possible, from a pictorial point of view, we journeyed twice to East Anglia; once, when the wild-fowl were being actually caught, and it was impossible for us to photograph the mouth of the pipe without frightening the fowl away; and again in summer-time, when we could go anywhere without fear of doing harm.

A decoy pipe is a ditch shaped somewhat like a cow's horn or an ear trumpet, and is sufficiently curved to make it quite impossible for anything going on at one end to be seen from the other. It is about one hundred and fifty feet in length,

DECOY FIFE FROM TAIL END.

;

seventeen or eighteen feet wide at its mouth, and gradually tapering to a couple of feet at its tail. The water in it is about fifteen inches deep at the wide end, and three or four at the narrow one. If a spring- or small stream should empty its waters into the pipe, it is considered an advantage, as wildfowl swim better against a slight current.

The pipe is covered by iron hoops, commencing at the mouth with one having a sj^an of from twenty-five to thirty feet, and a height, from the centre of the arch to the water, of something like fifteen feet the hoops gradually diminishing in size as they approach the tail of the pipe to about two feet in diameter. The whole is covered by a hand-spun hemp net, with a two-inch mesh, well coated with tar and tan. I was assured by the decoy-man that one of these nets will last twenty years. Some pipes are covered by a four-inch mesh at the mouth, and for some distance dov/n, and then one of half the diameter. One decoy we examined was covered with galvanised wire, which had been treated in the same way as a hemp net. Some decoy-men have an objection to wire netting, on account of its tendency to hum in a breeze of wind, and thus frighten the Ducks away; however, the man we visited experienced no difficulty of this kind.

At the tail of the decoy pipe is a detachable net from twelve to fifteen feet long, held o})en l)y hoops two feet in diameter, and lying on the ground. In some cases a kind of hopper is made close by the end of the receiving net, to throw the dead fowl into. On either side of the mouth of the pipe the banks slope gently down to the water's edge, and are flat and rcjomy, especially on the side where

ENTRANCE TO DECOY PIPE

300

WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA.

the sunshine falls, in order that Ducks may land to preen themselves and sleep thereon. These banks extend for more than half way up the pipe, gradually narrowing as they do so, until they vanish altogether, and the hoops and netting come close down to the water's edge. On the screen side, or left bank from the entrance, and about one-third of the distance in, we found a wire cage let into the bank containing a couple of lure Ducks; but this is a dodge, I believe, peculiar to the man whose pipes we visited. No leaves or twigs are allowed to accumulate upon the pipe, and over-hanging branches or shrubs, calculated to darken any part of it, would be instantly lopped off.

CAGE FOR DECOY DUCKS.

On the left hand side from the entrance is a double row of reed screens, about five feet in height, running parallel with the pipe for something like two-thirds of its length. The outer

DUCK DECOY.

ZIGZAG SCREEN:

is a j)lain one, with gaps in it here and there for

the convenience of the decoy-man upon entering to

examine the pipe. The

inner screen consists of a

series of pieces arranged,

as shown on page 301,

in such a manner that the

decoy-man can see down

towards the tail of the

pipe without being seen

himself by any fowl coming

into it or outside upon the

lake. Between each piece

of this zigzag screen is

a small one running at

right angles for the decoy

dog to jump over. It is

about two feet in height.

A few yards in front

of the mouth of the pipe

is the head show place,

where the decoy-man first

shows his fear-inspiring

form when the wildfowl

are well within the pipe.

A few yards further along

on the same side is a

cunningly devised hole for

the dog to creep through

when tlu^ luring connnenccs,

l^ohind the two screens

there is a great bank of

PEEP-HOLE IN SCREEN. earth with trees and shrubs

growing ujion it, and in

this is a dug-out path l^y which the decoy-man

enters the grounds and tak(\s his d(^})arture.

DECOY-MAN MAKING HIS SURVEY.

The screens are made of dead reeds, and are five or six inches thick. They are held close together by wooden rails or galvanised wire. The decoy-man told us that the latter is far better, as it does not collect and hold the water behind it, to rot the reeds, like a wooden rail.

Stuck through the inner or zigzag screens, commanding a good view of the i)ipe mouth and lake, are several dagger-like pieces of w^ood, a foot in length and an inch and a (juarter wide, which, when turned on one side, open a small vertical slit in the reed screen, through which the decoyman makes his survey.

All the i)atlis are swept clear of twigs and leaves, and covered with a thick layer of sawdust, so that the decoy-man's footsteps may not be heard. The lure Ducks that are at liberty in and around the mouth of the pipe number about twenty, and are very similar in appearance to Wild Duck. They are only fed in the evening, after the wild ones have left for the mud-fiats, except at such times as when the decoy-man is at work catching fowl, when he flings bruised oats, luickwhcat, maize, malt grains, or acorns into the })ipe.

As soon as the lure Ducks hear the decoy-nuurs low whistle, or see his dog, they know there will be some grain floating down the pipe, and they swim up—the steadier the better, for these Ducks are so trained that as soon as the decoy-man appears at the head show jdace, and the wild birds rise and i\y up ihe i)ii)e, they (piietly swim down airain towards the lake. Wildfowl are taken between Octobei- and March; j)iits on his and during a hard frost the decoy-man sea-b(jots at midniglit, and, taking a long-handled

axe and boat-hook, cuts up the ice round the mouth of tiie pipe, and tln-usts it beneath that formed upon the lake. It is a great point in successful wildfowlino- to keep the water in the pipe, and for some distance around its mouth, free from ice, as such birds as frequent the lake during open weather bring a lot of strangers back with them on their flights to the coast during a snap of hard frost. Many decoy-men are too anxious to begin to kill the wildfowl directly they visit their water. It is a great mistake, because, if they kill them nearly all at the beginning, the few remaining birds do not induce many strangers to fly back with them from the mud-flats in the morning. Ducks fresh from the sea are known by a mark upon their breasts, left by the salt water, but this quickly disappears when they frequent fresh water.

As wildfowl are very acute of scent, a piece of ])urning turf is taken by the decoy-man when he goes after Duck, in order to counteract the smell of his breath or clothes. This strange proceeding, according to Sir Ealph Payne Gallwey, had its origin in the fact that "in the fens of Lincolnshire turf was largely burnt before coal came into use, and it was supposed that the wildfowl, being accustomed to its smell, did not mind it, Avhereas they would that of the decoy-man."

I will now endeavour to describe how the actual work of taking wildfowl is done.

We trooped silently down the sunken path leading from a track near the decoy-man's cottage in the wood to the pipes. He led the way with a piece of burning turf in his left hand, and his little liver-coloured bitch close at his heels. When we reached the screens, he placed his piece of u

turf upon the gTOiind, and, gently twisting one of the dagger-like sticks from the vertical to the horizontal, peeped through the slit in the reeds, and beckoned us to come and look.

Some two hundred head of wildfowl were to

DOG'S HOLE. (.SV( /..

be seen: a few upon the far bank, at the mouth of the i)i])e, and in the o^xmi water in front of it, but the great majority on the ice beyond. Those nearest the })i})e appeared to be full of attention and alertness, whilst those further out were either preening themselves or sleeping peacefully. In some places they were collected in dark groups,

DECOY-MAN KILLING WILD DUCK.

Page 34 of 44