196 BULLETIN 126, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



feeding grounds and resting places; this, with the increased persecu- 

 tion by gunners throughout its former migration route, has driven the 

 birds farther northward to a migration route along the Great Lakes. 

 The species seems to be declining in abundance on the Gulf coast, 

 which would seem to support this theory, though it may mean a re- 

 duction in the numerical strength of the species as a whole. Its 

 breeding grounds have become more restricted to more northerly 

 localities, which has also tended to give it a more northerly migration 

 route eastward. The theory has been advanced that the wild celery 

 now grows more abundantly farther north than formerly, though I 

 doubt if this can be proven, or if it has had as much effect as the 

 other two causes. 



Prof. Walter B. Barrows (1912) says of its fall migration in 

 Michigan: 



This duck ia seen almost invariably in flocks, these gathering often into large com- 

 panies of many hundred individuals. Like the redhead this species in Michigan ia 

 more common along the Great Lakes than on the ponds and streams of the interior, 

 yet it occurs sparingly in the latter situations. 



In the fall it reappears in October and in places where food conditions are favorable 

 may remain until late December. Its favorite food, the "eelgrass," or so-called 

 wild celery ( Vallisneria spiralis) has been planted in several places during recent 

 years and attracts many kinds of ducks. 



Game. — On account of its world-wide fame as a table bird and its 

 prominence as a game bird, it seems worth while to devote some 

 space to the consideration of the canvasback from the standpoint of 

 the sportsman and to give some account of the methods of hunting 

 it. Professor Barrows (1912) says of the methods employed during 

 its migration through Michigan: 



Formerly the birds were slaughtered by all sorts of abominable devices, including 

 night floating, punt guns, sail boats, and steam launches, * * * as well as by 

 more legitimate methods of decoys. At present they are sometimes obtained by 

 "sneaking" or drifting down upon flocks in the open water in a boat more or less 

 concealed by rushes, bushes, and similar disguises, but the greater number are shot 

 from blinds or hiding places over painted wooden decoys. 



Good shooting used to be found on the inland lakes, on the early 

 spring migration, which occurs while the lakes are still parti ally covered 

 with ice. The gunner selects a small open water hole, which the 

 ducks have been seen to frequent, where he anchors his decoys in the 

 water, pulls his skiff up onto the ice and builds a bUnd around it of 

 ice cakes, where he can lie concealed within easy gunshot of the water 

 holes; a decoy, which can be made to dive by pulling a cord, will 

 help to attract passing flocks which are looking for a feeding place. 

 New arrivals will usually decoy readily to such places, but birds which 

 have spent some time in the vicinity soon learn to avoid such dan- 

 gerous water holes and frequent the places where they can feed in 

 safety. 



