thousands. He never attempted to shoot on the wing, and would rarely fire at a single bird, but would maneuver for hours to get a chance to fire into a sitting flock at short range.
As the great flocks of wild fowl had then, as they have now, a most exasperating habit of lying in open water beyond gun shot, a favorite device with the Indian was to cover his canoe with green boughs so that it would appear to be a mere floating heap of brush wood, and lying in ambush under this the hunter would patiently wait for hours for the birds to come near or for a favoring wind to float him into their midst. An Indian enjoyed killing ducks and geese in this way. The stealthiness and the ease of it, both appealed to him, besides it meant many birds for one shot.
So strongly was the necessity for economy
