BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 



41 



than of a song. Another frequenter of the marshes, common enough in the 

 autumn, but rare in the spring, is the American Pipit or Titlark. Coming in 

 flocks and perfectly at home in the marshes, this bird prefers, however, the cul- 

 tivated fields, the sand dunes, or the beaches. During the colder months of the 

 year the Horned Lark is to be found in flocks throughout this region. Less 

 commonly the Snow Bunting feeds there, and rarest of all, during its shorter 

 stay, the Lapland Longspur, borne along by the flock of Larks or Buntings, 

 may descend with them to the marsh. During the very high tides, especially 

 in the spring and autumn, the marshes are converted into inland seas, and the 

 birds that harbor there are driven to the more elevated regions. By skirting 

 the edges of the marshes at these times one may often find such birds as Bit- 

 terns, Herons, Rails, shore birds, and Sharp-tailed Sparrows. 



In the marshes the shooting of shore birds is done almost entirely from 

 permanent blinds, which are owned or leased by gunners. The blinds are made 

 of bushes or stakes driven into the mud with branches, eel-grass, or thatch so 

 disposed as to conceal the gunner within. Sometimes to keep out the tide a 

 water-tight box is used, the outer sides of which are covered with mud and salt- 

 grass sods. The blinds are placed near mudholes and small pools, and a con- 

 venient alighting-place is often made extending out as a miniature sand bar 

 directly away from the blind, so that the gunner may rake with more deadly 

 effect the hapless birds. Decoys are used as on the beaches, sometimes in large 

 numbers, and their reflections in the waters of the pools appear very life-like. 

 Much skill is at times displayed in clever imitation of the different bird-notes in 

 order to call the birds within gunshot, sometimes from distant parts of the 

 marsh. In former years shore birds doubtless flocked to every suitable feeding- 

 ground in the marshes, but now with diminishing numbers they are found year 

 after year at a limited number of favored spots, notwithstanding the use of the 

 gun there, while they neglect others apparently just as suitable. 



Duck-shooting in the creeks and marshes of Essex County is practiced in 

 several ways. The float, as it is called, is commonly used — a light, flat-bot- 

 tomed, narrow skiff with sides rounding over to conceal the gunner, who lies 

 flat, and, by an oar extending through a hole in the stern, skillfully sculls onto 

 the game. Small bushes or thatch in the bow and on the sides increase the 

 protection. By getting to windward of the birds he is enabled to drift or "float" 

 down towards them, and as they rise against the wind he sits up for a shot. 

 Scoters, Buffleheads, and even Black Ducks may be obtained in this manner if 

 care be used, but Whistlers and Shelldrakes are generally too wary unless they 

 be approached under cover of the bank of the creek. Blinds of bushes or 

 thatch, or cakes of ice along the creeks, and wooden decoys are used for Whis- 

 tlers and Shelldrakes, while Black Ducks pay but scant attention to any but live 



