354 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



piler of this article has shot them of equal fatness and flavour in the 

 Delaware, although many will not admit that our Canvass- backs at 

 all resemble those of the boasted Chesapeake. The inhabitants of 

 New York have but lately discovered that they too have the legiti- 

 mate Canvass-backs on their Hudson; though ignorance and preju- 

 dice from the south will doubtless stigmatize them as a spurious race, 

 unworthy of the name. Yet it is true that in all these places this ex- 

 quisite bird is found, and will continue to be found there, so long as 

 its favourite food abounds. Would it not be worth the experiment to 

 transplant this celebrated grass in other similar waters, in the hope of 

 drawing thither the delicious Canvass-back ? It has been ascertained 

 that wheat will attract them. Some years since, a vessel, loaded with 

 this grain, was wrecked at the entrance of Great Egg-harbour, in 

 the autumn, and went to pieces. The Canvass-backs, before unknown 

 to the people of Egg-harbour, at that time on their way from the 

 north, collected in immense numbers, and fed upon the wheat, re- 

 maining as long as it lasted. At our public dinners, hotels, and par- 

 ticular entertainments, the Canvass-backs are universal favourites. 

 They not only grace but dignify the table ; and their very name con- 

 veys to the imagination of the eager epicure the most comfortable 

 and exhilerating ideas. Hence on such occasions it has not been un- 

 common to pay from two to three dollars a pair for these Ducks ; 

 and, indeed, at such times, if they can they must be had, whatever 

 may be the price. 



The Pintail Duck, or as it is g'enerally called, the Sprigtnil, is a 

 common Duck in our markets, but not in much esteem ; it being 

 seldom fat, although its flesh is generally tender. It is a shy and 

 cautious bird ; feeds on the mud flats, and in shallow fresh water 

 marshes; but rarely visits the coast. Like the Mallard and Black 

 Duck it does not dive for its food ; though it is tolerably expert in 

 diving when wounded. The Sprigtail has a kind of whistling or 

 chattering note, and is very noisy. It is vigilant in giving the alarm 

 on the approach of the gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of 

 this bird. 



The Brant, or as it is usually written, Brent, is a bird well known 

 on both continents ; and was celebrated in former times throughout 

 Europe for the singularity of its origin ; and the strange transforma- 

 tions it was supposed to undergo previous to its complete organiza- 

 tion. Its first appearance was said to be in the form of a Barnacle 

 shell, adhering to old water-soaked logs, trees, or other pieces of 

 wood taken from the sea. Of this Goose-bearing tree, Gerard, in his 

 Herbal, published in 1597, has given a formal account. Ridiculous 

 and chimerical as this notion was, it had many advocates, and was at 

 that time as generally believed, and with about as much reason too, 

 as the present opinion of the annual immersion of Swallows, so tena- 

 ciously insisted on by some of our philosophers, and which, like the 

 former absurdity, will in its turn disappear before the penetrating 

 radiance and calm investigation of truth. 



The Brant is expected at Egg-harbour, on the coast of New Jer- 

 sey, about the first of October, and has been sometimes seen as early 

 as the twentieth of September. In their migrations they uniformly 

 travel over the sea, parallel with the coast ; their line of march very 

 much resembles that of the Canada Geese, with this exception, that 

 frequently three or four are crowded together in the front, as if 

 striving for precedency. During their stay on the coast, they feed 



