CHAPTER XXII. 
RED-HEAD DUCK SHOOTING. 
Low o’er the water in a bunch they come, 
Brilliant in the sun that glossy head ; 
We, in the sacred precinct of their home, 
Rise, take aim, fire, then pick up the dead. 
Wir the solitary exception of the canvas-back, 
epicures consider the red-head the finest eating of the 
duck family. They are readily and frequently mis- 
taken for canvas-back by hunters of experience ; others 
have classed them as and believe them to be, a species of 
canvas-back. But such opinions are really without 
substantial foundation, as they are as distinct from the 
canvas-back as any other variety of duck, notwith- 
standing their similarity in appearance. At the first 
glance they appear much like the canvas -back, but a 
closer examination, indeed, a casual look to one who is 
posted and the difference is readily detected. Place a 
