The Couiiiry Gcntkinaiis IMagazinc 



in Canada it has its own peculiarities. In 

 some of her rivers there are immense flats or 

 swamps, which are overgro^vn with reeds and 

 rushes, and thus afford beautiful ground, 

 much of which is covered with duck-Aveed. 

 On some island or dry spot in the neighbour- 

 hood of this ground a small wooden hut or 

 shanty is erected, in which the sportsman 

 makes himself as much at home as the pests 

 of a swamp will permit. Before daybreak he 

 may find himself in some favourable position, 

 In which he can command the birds in their 

 passage, and may bag his twenty, thirty, or 

 even fifty birds before breakfast. Or, desir- 

 ing even a more pleasant kind of sport, he 

 may get into a canoe and paddle quietly 

 through the rushes, and mark his bird as he 

 disturbs it at its morning repast, and turn it 

 over beautifully as it rises in the air. In 

 such swamps it is sometimes necessary for 

 the canoe-man to get out and either pull or 

 push the canoe over almost dry ground ] but 

 no shooting can be more pleasant than sitting 

 quietly in your canoe, and every few minutes 

 having your shot at duck, snipe, bittern, or 

 some other Canadian bird. Very frequently 

 a man well acquainted with the waters can 

 mark to a nicety the spot where a flock — 

 and sometimes a flock of thousands may be 

 seen — alights; and paddling quietly and 

 noiselessly through the reeds, a raking shot 

 may be had, when half-a-dozen, in a not 

 over-sportsman like manner, will be tumbled 

 over with the first barrel, and one or two 

 with the second. Duck stalking is very 

 interesting. Towards the close of the year a 

 very ingenious mode of getting wdthin reach 

 of ducks is sometimes adopted. A scow^ 

 painted white is quietly paddled in their 

 direction, and it so resembles a floating sheet 

 of ice, that frequently they can be approached 



within twenty or thirty yards. It is of course 

 in the large swamps that the best duck shoot- 

 ing is to be had, and the numbers and variety 

 are something almost inconceivable. The 

 Common wilk duck, or mallard, is of course 

 very abundant ; so also are the teal, pintail, 

 canvas back, widgeon, shoveller, wood duck, 

 and many others. I do not seek to allude 

 just now to the characteristics or peculiarities 

 of any other except those of the wood duck. 

 This is one of the most beautiful birds that 

 can anyAvhere be seen. It is called the wood 

 duck from the peculiarity of its habits in 

 lighting and building upon trees. When first 

 seen darting through the air, almost like a 

 hawk, and suddenly perching upon a tree, one 

 unaccustomed to the bird can scarcely con- 

 ceive what it is. When the young are hatched, 

 the mother-duck carries them to the water, 

 and they are at once in their element. Duck- 

 shooting is one of the most difficult, but one 

 of the most interesting kinds of sport. It is 

 of course easy enough to blaze away at coveys, 

 or aim somewhere in the direction of a single 

 bird ; but, to judge the distance, the angle of 

 flight, the rapidity of motion, and almost 

 instantaneously to cover the head, and not 

 merely wound the bird, requires a nicety of 

 mathematical calculation, giving a training 

 both to eye and hand. 



However interesting new scenes may thus 

 be, I have a strong conviction that for real 

 pleasure nothing can surpass the moor on the 

 1 2th, or the stubbles in September. And 

 had I any hope of finding some enthusiastic 

 sportsman willing to gi-ant a few day's liberty 

 on some good ground, I do confess that I 

 would almost feel tempted to steal time 

 enough to cross the Atlantic on such an 

 errand, and enjoy again the autumn breezes 

 of old Scotia! — Leveiu 



