-7 5 2 MaCKAY Ofl t'fie Oldsqiia-V. [October 



ing towards the east to their feeding ground in Saco Bay. This 

 movement is taken advantage of by sportsmen who, by locating 

 in their 'fly line,' frequently secure considerable numbers of 

 them. In 1886 they were unusually abundant in October oft' Re- 

 vere Beach, Mass., there being one or more acres of them. The 

 probable reason for this was to be found in the abundance of the 

 short razor-shell-fish (6V7/^«^« costata Say) which seems to ap- 

 pear in this locality about every third year. 



Let me transport my readers, if I may, to a spot where I was 

 but a short time since; it is one that is in accord with what I 

 most enjoy. It is here that }'OU can see (under favorable condi- 

 tions ) more Oldsquaws than you supposed existed in New Eng- 

 land waters ; and on such a morning as I will select for two hours 

 such a continued stream of bird life shall pass that you will be 

 more than satisfied. Close to your feet as you lie ensconced in a 

 sand-built stand, as near the wash as prudence permits, roll in 

 the mighty waves of the broad Atlantic ; in front is the battle 

 ground of the tides and winds. We are at the opening at 

 Smith's Point (Nantucket Island, Mass.) on the brink of which 

 we stand. Yet watch how gracefully and easily, regardless of 

 Windsor waves, the Oldsquaws, those little flashes of light, for 

 such they truly seem to be as the morning sun shines on them, 

 pass us with gauged flight just above the turbulent waves, now up 

 now down, and then beyond. If you would shoot them as 

 they pass, note well their rate of speed and make due allowance, 

 at least eight feet ahead, and two feet over is not too much, for 

 they are flying swiftly and are farther than they seem ; with nine 

 tenths of those missed the shot fall behind. It is the acme of skill 

 in wild fowl shooting to take them singly or in pairs as they pass, 

 but take my word for it, one must have the taste inborn, and serve 

 a long apprenticeship before success can be attained. Do not 

 let us, however, forget those Oldsquaws, shot early in the morn- 

 ing, which were rapidly carried by the tide from our view 

 through those seething waters, and apparently lost; some of them 

 will meet an eddy which will carry them sufficiently out of the 

 current to give the wind and waves an opportunity to cast them 

 on the shore from half a mile to a mile below us. We must be 

 on the lookout, for there are other eyes, sharper than ours, on the 

 watch for them also, I mean the Herring and Great Black-backed 

 Gulls, and the Crows; they are all of them fond of Ducks to eat. 



