380 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 



of ducks in a boat that has a screen around it high enough 

 to conceal the fowler and the man at the oar; or hi a 

 craft which resembles a huge swan, and is accompanied 

 by decoys, which are placed on each side. The latter is 

 only large enough to contaiu two men, and one of these 

 shoots while the other uses the oar through an aperture 

 in the rear part of the mock swan, to prevent it from 

 being seen by the birds. A novice is more likely to make 

 a big bag of canvas-back ducks from either of tliese con- 

 trivances than from a sink-box, especially on calm days, 

 as the birds do not seem to fear it, and await its arrival 

 with a feeling of curiosity rather than alarm. The men 

 who shoot in this manner nse from fifty to one hundred 

 decoys, and when they have "planted" these they stand 

 off until the flocks alight, then scnll down on them, 

 and blaze away until the last bird has got beyond 

 range. The services of the "bushwackers " can generally 

 be secured at sums ranging from ten to fifteen dollars a 

 day, decoys and boats included, and, perhajis, for less, 

 when the best part of the season is over. 



A great many sportsmen enjoy their shooting from the 

 shore, generally behind blinds, by paying a small license 

 fee to the State; but if any of them dared to violate the 

 game laws they would soon find themselves in trouble, for 

 policemen are stationed in cabins all along the shore, and 

 they are prompt in arresting transgressors. The best 

 "shooting points "along Chesapeake Bay, are occupied 

 by clubs of sportsmen, who rent them year after year, if 

 not for a long series of years, and who have erected com- 

 fortable quarters for themselves. The shares in some of 

 these clubs are so highly appreciated that they sell at a 

 thousand dollars each, and much more if they are the 

 property of "high-toned affairs," to use the vernacular. 

 The game dinners of some of these clubs cannot be ex- 

 celled in any part of the world, and whoever would know 

 how wild-fowl, terrapins, and terrapin eggs should be 



