282 AMERICAN GAME BIED SHOOTING. 



nearly every species of edible bird indigenous to the At- 

 lantic States, and these are prepared in such a manner 

 that an e})icure of the old school would almost faint from 

 joy on eating them. 



Few scenes are more interesting than that witnessed on 

 the Chesapeake during the wild-fowling season, for the 

 sky is then dotted with dense clouds of squawking ducks 

 of many species, honking geese, stately swans, and 

 whooping cranes and herons, while vessels, boats, and de- 

 coys ride on the water, numerous whitish puffs of smoke 

 float in the air, and sharp detonations ring throughout 

 the land and river like the sharp volleys of heavy bodies 

 of skirmishers engaged in battle. Activity is visible ev- 

 erywhere, for it is a regular campaign against the masses 

 of wild-fowl that throng the sky and water. I have heard 

 that a man standing near the shore could hear the re- 

 ports of between five hundred and a thousand guns at a 

 time when the season was at its height; that over five 

 thousand persons were engaged in wild-fowling along t\m 

 Maryland side of the Chesapeake during the winter and 

 early spring, and that if all who fired off a gun there were 

 enumerated, the number would exceed ten thousand, even 

 by excluding those Avho shot from the shores of Virginia. 

 This may give an idea of the abundance of birds in the 

 region, and the terrific havoc committed among them. 

 They are, in fact, shipped by the tens of tons to the 

 northern cities, where they are sold at such low rates 

 that the humblest of the working classes can enjoy game 

 dinners very frequently, and at a cost little beyond what 

 they would pay for beef or mutton. The shipments do 

 not include ducks alone, as wild geese are also nnmerous, 

 and swans are not uncommon. All species of shore-birds, 

 such as the snipe, plover, curlew, sandpiper, tattler, and 

 many others, help to swell the wild-fowler's l)ag, for these 

 are often almost as abundant as leaves at Vallambrosa. 

 and, being appreciated by epicures, they bring good prices. 



