The Pochard is about the size of a Wigeon, weighs one pound twelve ounces; its length is nineteen inches; breadth, two feet and a half; the bill is broader than the Wigeon's, of a deep lead-colour, with a black tip; irides, orange; the head and neck deep chesnut, with a small triangular spot of white under the Centre of the lower Mandible; the lower part of the neck and breast, and upper part of the back, dusky black; scapulars and wing coverts nearest the body of a greyish white, elegantly marked with narrow lines of black; the exterior wing coverts and quills, dusky brown; secondary quill feathers regularly edged with a stripe of white; the belly, ash-coloured and brown; vent feathers, and coverts of tail, black; the tail consists of twelve short feathers of a deep grey; the legs lead-coloured. The Female has the head of a pale reddish brown; the breast is rather of a deeper colour; wing coverts and belly, cinereous; the back marked like that of the Male.

These birds are eagerly bought by the London Poulterers, under the name of Dun Birds, as they are deemed excellent eating: the greater part of what appear in the Markets are caught in Decoys; but the Construction and mode of Working are perfectly distinct from that wherein the other Wild Fowl are taken. A Decoy for Dun Birds is called a Flight Pond, and has Nets fastened to tall stout Poles, twenty-eight or thirty feet long: at the bottom of each Pole is a Box fixed, filled with heavy Stones, sufficient to elevate the Poles and Nets, the instant

an Iron pin is withdrawn, which retains the Nets and Poles flat upon the Reeds, small Willow boughs, or Furze: withinside the Nets are small Pens, made of reeds about three feet high, for the reception of the Birds that strike against the Net and fall down; and such is the form and shortness of Wing in the` Pochard, that they cannot ascend again from these little inclosures if they would; besides, the numbers which are usually knocked into these Pens preclude all chance of Escape from them by the Wing. A Decoyman will sometimes allow the haunt of Dun Birds to be so great, that the whole Surface of the pond shall be covered with them previous to his attempting to take one: upon such occasions he bespeaks all the Assistants he can get to complete the slaughter by breaking their Necks. When all is ready, the Dun Birds are roused from the Pond; and, as all Wild Fowl rise against the Wind, the Poles in that quarter are unpinned, and fly up with the Nets at the instant the Dun Birds begin to leave the Surface of the water, so as to meet them in their first Ascent, and are thus beat down by hundreds. At the pond of Mr. BUXTON, at Goldanger, in Essex, as many Pochards have been taken at one drop as filled a Waggon, so as to require four stout Horses to carry them away; and the lower birds in the pens have been known to be killed, and pressed entirely flat, from the numbers of their companions heaped up above them, by the fatal stoppage of the Poles and Nets. The few attempts made to domesticate the Pochard have been hitherto

unsuccessful. They do tolerably well where there is plenty of water, but cannot bear walking about on hard pebbly grounds.

Shooting Wild Fowl.

To be equipt for this Sport in severe Weather, it is essentially requisite to be well clothed; Flannel shirt, drawers, and additional exterior and warm Garments, will not be found unpleasant to those who face the cold Winds upon the Marshes, or sit fixed in a Punt alongside the Oozes: thick Yarn stockings, and over them what are termed Wads by the Fishermen (knit woollen stockings that come up to the middle, and, however inelegant in their appearance, have their solid Comforts to the Wearer); and over these double defenders of the legs, a pair of Water-proof boots will also be found indispensable.

* The two following receipts for Boots and Guns I was favoured with by the late Dean of Exeter, Dr. HARWARD, who was formerly one of the best Wild Fowl shooters in the Kingdom.

If the Boots are new, half a pound of Bees Wax, a quarter of a pound of Resin, and the like quantity of Mutton Suet or Tallow; boil them up together, and anoint the Boots well with the preparation lukewarm. Should the Boots have been used, Beef Suet is to be substituted for the Mutton.

Three ounces of Black Lead, half a pound of Hog's Lard, one quarter of an ounce of Camphor, boiled upon a slow fire; the Gun-barrels to be rubbed with this, which, after three days, is to be wiped off with a linen cloth; twice in a Winter will keep off the rust, which the Salt water is otherwise sure to be continually bringing out from the Iron.

The Fishermen use this preparation for their Boots:-Bees Wax,

A Cap must be worn made of skin, instead of a Hát: the Fowl will not approach near the latter, and nothing so much or so soon shies them.

The Punt Shooters (Men who earn their livelihood in winter by attacking the Wild Fowl, night and day, according as the Tide serves) kill great numbers. The pursuit is hazardous.

Mr. GILPIN has given an interesting description of the Wild Fowl shooting upon the Hampshire Coast, and of the Escape of a Fowler, which will be here inserted; premising, that the danger in the Night is upon all Oozes nearly equal, if the return of the Tide is not accurately observed:-" The Coast between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is peculiar, consisting, at Ebb tide, of vast muddy flats, covered with green sea weed: it affords the Fowler an opportunity of practising arts, perhaps not elsewhere resorted to. Fowling and Fishing, says Mr. G. are, indeed, on this Coast commonly the Employments of the same person. He who in Summer, with his line or net, plies the Shores, when they are over

Burgundy Pitch, and clean Turpentine, of each two ounces; clear rendered Tallow four ounces; all melted together, and applied over a weak flame until the leather fills: the Boots should be perfectly dry before being liquored, and apply the liquor by degrees, so that one portion may be dried in, before another is laid on.

Old MERRY dressed his Boots with the following mixture; and, if new, he always wore them three or four times previous to using it:-half a pound of Tallow, four ounces of Hog's Lard; of Turpentine, Bees Wax, and Olive Oil, each two ounces; the whole mixed together in a pipkin, and kept stirring whilst melted: after warming the Boots at a fire, the preparation was laid on hot as the hand could bear it, and well rubbed in.

flowed by the Tide; in Winter, with his gun, as evening draws on, runs up in his Boat among the little Creeks which the Tide leaves in the mud lands, and lies in patient expectation of his prey. Sea fowl usually feed by Night, when in all their multitudes they come down to graze on the Savannahs of the Shore. As the sonorous Cloud advances (for their noise in the Air resembles a pack of Hounds in full cry), the attentive Fowler listens which way they bend their course; perhaps he has the mortification to hear them alight at too great a distance for his Gun (though of the longest barrel) to reach them; and if he cannot edge his Boat round some winding Creek, which it is not always in his power to do, he despairs of Success that Night; perhaps, however, he is more fortunate, and has the satisfaction to hear the airy noise approach nearer, till at length the Host settles in some plain upon the edge of which his Boat is moored: he now, as silently as possible, primes both his pieces anew (for he is generally double-armed), and listens with all his Attention: it is so dark, that he can take no Aim, for if he could discern the Birds, they would also see him; and, being extremely timorous, would seek some other pasture. Though they march with Noise, they feed in Silence; some indistinct noises, however, if the Night be still, issue from so vast a Concourse; he directs his piece, therefore, towards the Sound, fires at a venture, and instantly catching up his other gun, discharges it where he supposes the Flock to rise on the wing. His gains for the Night are now decided, and he has only to gather his harvest;