488 DUCK SHOOTING. 



removed from sport, is worth repeating. A certain 

 gunner having discovered that swans were feeding 

 near an old wreck off the mouth of the Chester River, 

 lashed his gun to the timbers of the wreck in such a way 

 as to command the shoal. When a number of swans 

 had collected there, he pulled a string which was tied 

 to the triggers of his gun and led to the shore. The 

 discharge raked the feeding ground. Mr. Morris 

 expresses his belief in this story, as he has often known 

 of geese being killed in a similar manner. When it 

 was ascertained where the fowl came ashore to feed at 

 night in narrow bays, stakes were driven at the edge of 

 the water and a duck gun lashed to them in such a po- 

 sition that it would rake the feeding ground. The gun 

 was discharged from a string leading from the trigger 

 to the blind. No matter how dark the night, the indi- 

 vidual in the blind could usually hear the geese feeding 

 in the proper place for a shot. 



Beside this more or less open water shooting, many 

 of the tributaries of the Chesapeake are resorted to by 

 large numbers of marsh fowl — black ducks, mallards, 

 teals, sprig-tail and all the marsh ducks — and fair 

 shooting at these birds is still to be had at these places. 



In addition to the failure of the feed which — in the 

 belief of many persons — has caused the wildfowl to 

 desert many places in Chesapeake Bay, where they 

 were once abundant, another cause is the increase of 

 the oyster trade, which involves the constant presence 

 on waters formerly frequented by the game, of vessels 

 and craft of all kinds. Besides the disturbance caused 



