274 Where to Hunt 



main line of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad one may 

 find good woodcock covers. Leave the train at 

 Branchville, and hunt up the stream to Beltsville, a 

 distance of about five miles. Fine shooting may be 

 had at either place from July to September, except in 

 an exceedingly dry season. Good shooting may be 

 had at "the big dike," two and a half miles from Alex- 

 andria, on the line of the Washington & Mt. Vernon 

 electric Railway. In the last two summer months 

 sportsmen can get good shooting at flight-birds from 

 the north at Franconia, Accotinck, and Lorton 

 stations, on the line of the Alexandria & Fredericks- 

 burg Railroad. The distances from Alexandria to 

 these stations are seven, eleven, and fifteen miles 

 respectively. From the middle of October to the mid- 

 dle of September the shooting is good. After that 

 time the birds have all migrated south. It is thought 

 woodcock are not decreasing. They were more plenti- 

 ful in 1895 than for a number of years. 



Good duck shooting can be had on the Potomac, 

 near Washington, from October to April. From all 

 reports duck are decreasing very rapidly. Canvasback, 

 blue-bill, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, butter- 

 ball, mallard, redhead, whistler, and wood-duck are 

 found ; there are a few r swan and geese. A few wood- 

 duck breed in Virginia. 



Sora-rail arrive in the marshes about the middle of 

 August, and are very plentiful. It is no unusual thing 

 to bag seventy to eighty birds on one trip of two hours' 

 shooting. Several years ago a sportsman succeeded in 

 bagging 1 1 5 rail in three hours' shooting, in the big 

 marsh two miles from Alexandria. These birds mi- 



