CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 15t 



within the last ten days have seen more of these birds 

 and at closer quarters than during any season for many 

 years. The locality was Currituck Sound, and the 

 sights that I saw were witnessed by several others, old 

 gunners, who agree with me that so great a flight of 

 canvas-backs has not been witnessed for many years. 



"The first few days of shooting had about it nothing 

 very startling except that one-half the bag of ducks 

 consisted of canvas-backs. The first day was cold, gray 

 and lowering, with a keen breeze from the northwest, 

 and occasional spatters of rain, changing later to snow, 

 which in the afternoon fell heavily. It was an ideal 

 gunning day, and the birds came to the decoys in beau- 

 tiful style, so that the first seven or eight canvas-backs 

 were killed without a single miss, and for a brief and 

 happy hour I was deluded into the belief that at last 

 I had learned how to shoot ducks. The rude awaken- 

 ing from this cheerful dream came soon afterward, and 

 was thorough. I do not imagine that I shall ever again 

 be deceived in this way. 



"The second day's shooting was not markedly differ- 

 ent from that of the day before, except so far as the 

 weather was less favorable, and so the number of can- 

 vas-backs secured was very much less. Saturday was a 

 lay day, on which there is no shooting, and when we 

 arose we found that the continued cold weather had at 

 last had its effect and the sound was frozen over. There 

 were many large air holes, however, crowded with 

 birds, but the cold continued. The next morning many 

 of these air holes had frozen, others had grown smaller 



