CHAPTER LXXIV 



'' POKER" DUCKS 



The Norfolk gunners love the "poker" — he is their great 

 mainstay in the hard winters ; and capital eating is the 

 " sondy-headed poker," almost as good as a canvas-back 

 from Chesapeake Bay. 



In the language of the Broad gunners, there are five 

 pokers : — 



1. Sandy-headed poker (common pochard). 



2. Red-headed poker (red-crested pochard). 



3. Black-headed poker (tufted duck). 



4. Scaup poker (scaup). 



5. Golden-eyed poker (golden-eye). 



The red-crested pochard may be dismissed at once as 

 very rare. One gunner I know has only shot one in his 

 whole career. 



The golden-eyed poker, too, is rare, though far more com- 

 mon than the red-crested poker. He comes over late with 

 the cold winter, and the flighters know him by his very 

 swift flight and the peculiar rattling of his wings as he 

 flies. These birds herd together on the water in small parties 

 of nine or ten, and are very shy and difficult to approach ; so 

 that the gunners pick their day for shooting golden-eyes, pre- 

 ferring a fine still morning, when the sun rises clear in the 

 winter sky. After the sun has risen for some half-hour, the 

 crafty old gunner launches his long punt-gun, and keeping 

 the bright sun right behind him, he approaches the herd, 

 and the loud reverberations of his long gun tell of the death 

 of some golden-eyes, which fetch good prices, and that is all 

 he cares for. 



