In the winter of 1956/57, pigeons were even scarcer in this district than they were in 1955/56, but in the summer their numbers were back to normal and in the autumn we had far more than usual. I had, in a small way, some interesting days over decoys, of which three have stuck especially in my mind. On 31 October, a friend and I went to a barley stubble on which the pigeons had been feeding for some time. They were said to come fairly early and to leave at about 1pm, so, having breakfasted and motored 10 miles, we arrived at 8am.
We went in high hopes. There had been at least 300 on the field the day before and this was an ideal morning for decoying, with a good breeze blowing. But we were
