Duck-shooting 1 1 



and the old records of ducks and ducking days 

 there would fill many an interesting volume. As- 

 sociated with these clubs is the Chesapeake Bay 

 dog, a breed in which the old Newfoundland was 

 marked. Few dogs possess the wisdom and 

 courage of these, and when well trained they are 

 unequalled as retrievers. Of a dirty sedge color, 

 the dog lies close to the blind, motionless, but 

 ever watchful. After the bird has dropped, he 

 waits the word and then is off. Few cripples 

 escape him. He follows a wing-broken duck 

 with a persistence in some instances wonderful, 

 judges the direction of the diving bird, and 

 gradually closes in on it. When two birds fall, 

 the wounded one is selected. Marsh grass can- 

 not conceal from his nose a crippled duck. He 

 knows the live decoys as well as you do. Even 

 a wounded swan stands small chance with him. 

 These are the traits a good dog possesses, but 

 a good Chesapeake dog is rare. With all the 

 facilities that can exist for the gunner, duck- 

 hunting in the eastern United States is getting 

 more and more to be an art. Wild ducks cer- 

 tainly seem to adapt themselves to circumstances. 

 They have measured the range of modern guns 

 and smokeless powder, yet their cunning certainly 

 adds to the satisfaction of getting them. In the 

 far West, where nearly all ducks exist in abun- 

 dance and shooting is easy, the character of the 



