236 DUCK-SHOOTING. 
before incensing the fierce and powerful canvas-back. 
Of a calm day it is amusing to watch the flocks 
of noisy mud-hens, collected in front of the club- 
house, diving for their food, and being robbed of 
it by the widgeons. The latter swims rapidly 
among them, and no sooner does he espy one com- 
ing to the surface, with his bill full of celery, than 
he pounces upon and carries it off. He is watchful 
and voracious, and quickly devours the food; while 
the injured mud-hen, with a resigned look, takes a 
long breath and dives for another morsel.” 
* Do they not combine to drive the robber away ?” 
“ Occasionally ; but he minds their blows as little 
as their scoldings, and generally swims off with his 
prize. The canvas-back, however, would soon teach 
him better manners.” 
‘Are the western canvas-backs as delicate and 
high-flavored as those of the Chesapeake ?” 
‘“‘ Fully so, as my friends in New York, who have 
been fortunate enough to share my luck, have often 
testified. Of course, when they first come they are 
thin and poor, but having the same food as is found 
in the Chesapeake, and being less disturbed, they 
soon attain excellent condition, and are entirely free 
from the slightest sedgy flavor.” 
“That sedgy or fishy taste is confined mainly to 
birds shot on the salt water, and is rarely found in 
any birds killed upon the inland lakes, so that many 
* —for instance the bay-snipe—that are barely pass- 
able when shot along the coast, are excellent in the 
interior.” 
