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Publifh'd Dec. 11795 by I.Wheble,Warwick Court London.

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Of Wild-Fowl Shooting.

inclofe the grounds round the houfe, which, however, will encircle a space of near FOURTEEN miles.

Petworth grounds are verv beautiful, and would have ap peared grand, had we not juft left Goodwood; but the houfe is a very fine old building, and well worth viewing; and the paintings are well chofen and excellent : the ftables, dog-kennel, paddocks for horfes, garden, &c. are, I fuppofe, as large, convenient, and as well kept up as any in Eng. land, taking them altogether.

The infertion of the above, if approved, in your Mifcellany, will highly gratify a fincere well.

wifher and

SPORTING TRAVELLER.

Newmarket, Nov. 19, 1795.

Of WILD-FOWL SHOOTING, With an elegant defcriptive Plate.

TH

HIS race of birds, if we include all thofe which have the hape and conformation of the wild goofe, duck, and teal, is extremely numerous, and there are no other birds which afford fo many different fpecies. But as of thefe, only the common wild duck are found in confiderable numbers in England, we fhall confine our defcription principally to them.

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on fome tuft of rushes which is a little elevated, and begins to lay in March or April: her in cubation is about thirty days, and the young ones are moft commonly hatched in May. The growth of their wings is very now, and they attain more than half their fize before they are able to fly, which happens about he beginning of Auguft, and near three months after the time of their being hatched.

The wild-duck differs little in plumage from the tame-duck, but is eafily diftinguished by its fize, which is lefs; by the neck, which is more lender; by the foot, which is fmaller; by the nails, which are more black; and, above all, by the web of the foot, which is much finer and fofter to the touch. The young ducks of the first year are diftinguished from the old ones by the feet, which are more foft and fleek. and of a brighter red. They may. alfo be known by plucking a fear ther from the wing; for, if the duck is young, the root or end of the quill will be foft and bloody if old, this extremity will be hard, without containing any bloody matter.

In the fummer feafon, when it is known that a team of young ducks are in a particular piece of water, and just beginning to Ay, the fportfman is fure to find them early in the morning, dabbling at the edges of the pool, and among

Wild ducks are birds of paf-the long grafs, and then he may fage, and arrive here in great get very near to them: it is usual flights, from the northern coun- alfo to find them in those places tries, in the beginning of winter. at noon. By means of a little Still, however, a great many reboat, they may be hot at auy main in our marthes and fens, time of the day, and this method during the whole year, and there fucceeds admirably well on fealt breed. They pair in fpring, and pieces of water; for with the lay from ten to fifteen eggs. The help of it they may all be killed, duck commonly conftructs her It will be ftill more easy to effec neft at the edge of the water, up-this, if the fportfman can contrive

to

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Of Wild-Fowl Shooting.

are in company, they fhould divide, fo that two fhould go in the

to kill the old duck; in that cafe, he may tie a tame-duck by the leg with a piece of pack-boat, whilft the others ipread thread to a pin of wood driven themselves about the edge of the into the ground, at the edge of pool, in order to fhoot the ducks the pool; this must be done in in their flight. In pools which fuch a manner, that the duck may will not admit a trow, waterbe able to swim a little way into fpaniels are abfolutely neceffary the water. He must then conceal for this fport, which fhould be bimfelf within gun-fhot. The large ftrong dogs, (fee the copper duck will foon begin to quack; plate annexed.) and as foon as the young ones hear her, they will come out to her, thinking it to be their mother.

If he wishes to take them alive, he has only to throw into the water, near to the tame durk, a few fish hooks tied upon pieces of twine, and baited with pieces of the lights of a calf. The lines must be fastened to pickets placed at the edge of the water. In the beginning of autumn, almost every pool is frequented by teams of wild-ducks, which remain there during the day, concealed in the rushes. If thefe pools are of finall extent, two fhooters, by going one on each fide, making noifes, and throwing ftones into the rushes, will make them fly up; and they will in this way frequently get fhots, efpecially if the pool is not broad, and contracts at one end.. But the fureft and most successful way, is to launch a fmall boat, or trow on the pool, and to traverse the rushes, by the openings which are found; at the fame time making as little noife as poffible. In this manner the ducks will fuffer the fportfman to come fufficiently near them to fhoot flying; and it often happens that the duck, after having flown up, only make a circuit, return in a little time, and again alight upon the pool. Then the fportfmen endeavour a fecond time to come near them. If feveral fhooters

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Another good way to floot ducks in winter, and efpècially in froft, at which time they dy about and are more in motion than at any other, is to watch for them in the dufk of the evening, at the margins of little pools, where they come to feed; they may then either be shot whilft they are on the wing, or at the moment on which they alight on the water. When the frost is very fevere, and the pools and rivers are fro zen up, they must be watched for, in places where there are warm Springs, and waters which do not freeze. The fport is then much more certain, because the ducks are confined to those places in order to procure thofe aquatic herbs which are almoft the only food that remains for them at this period.

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In times of great frofts, there are alfo finall rivers and brooks. which do not freeze, and these afford abundant fport. If the fhooter follow the courfe of thefe waters, at any time of the day, but particularly at an early hour of the morning, he will be certain to meet with wild-duck, which are then frequently lying under the banks, and among the roots. of trees which grow on the edges, fearching for cray-fish and infects; and the ducks will not get up until he is close upon them, and fometimes they will even lie until he has gone past, or are hunted up by his dogs.

ОРАН,

ON

Opah, or King's Fifh.-Tax on Dogs.

OPAH, or KING'S FISH.

1

Nov. 3d.

N Sunday laft, a large and rare fish, called the Opah, weighing about 50lb. was left by the tide at Craminond. On Monday, it was tranfmitted to Mr. Weir, to be preserved in 'his valuable collection of natural productions.

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The tongue thick, refembling that of a man, but rough, and thick fet with beards or prickles, pointing backwards, fo that any thing might eafily pals down, but could not eafily return back, therefore these might ferve instead of teeth to retain its prey, The eyes remarkably large, covered with a membrane, and fhining with a glare of gold. The cover of the

In Pennant's Zoology, the fol-gills like the falmon. lowing account is given of the Opah, or King's Fish:

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We have only five inftances of this fifh being taken in our feas, four of them in the North, viz. twice off Scotland, once off Nor thumberland, one in Filey Bay, Yorkshire: and a fifth was caught at Brixam, in Torbay, 1772.

The last weighed a hundred and forty pounds. The length was four feet and a half: the breadth two feet and a quarter; the greatest thicknefs only four inches. Its general colour was a vivid tranfparent fcarlet varnish, over burnished gold, bespangled with 'oval filver fpots of various fizes; the breast was an hard bone, refembling the keel of a fhip; the flesh looked and tafted

like beef.

We find a more ample defcription of another, by Mr. Robert Harrifon, of Newcastle:

६.

Newcastle, Sept. 12, 1769. On Saturday laft, was thrown upon the fands at Blyth, a very rare and beautiful fish, weigh ing between feventy and eighty pounds, fhaped like the fea bream. The length was three feet and a half; the breadth from back to belly almost two feet; but the thickness from fide to fide not above fix inches.

The mouth fmall for the fize of

The body diminishes very small to the tail, which is forked, and expands twelve inches: the gill fins are broad, about eight inches long, and play horizontally; a lit tle behind their infertion, the back fin takes its original, where it is about feven inches high, but flopes away very fuddenly, running down very near the tail, and at its termination becomes a little broader: the belly fins are very ftrong and placed near the middle of the body: a narrow fin alfo runs from the anus to the tail.

All the fins, and alfo the tail, are of a fine fcarlet; but the colours and beauty of the reft of the body, which is fmooth and covered with almoft imperceptible fcales, beggars all defeription; the upper part being a kind of bright green, variegated with whitish fpots, and enriched with a fhining golden hue, like the fplendour of a peacock's feather. This, by degrees, vanishes in a bright filvery, and near, the belly the ground again predominates in a lighter ground than on the

back.

To the EDITORS of the SPORTING
MAGAZINE.

GENTLEMEN,

AVING frequently noticed

the fill, forming a fquare opening, Hin your Magazine, Obferved

and without any teeth in the jaws. tions on a Tax on Dogs, as an

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