A NOBLE BAG. BLACK DUCK. 277 



reduced my charges ; but still the end was drawing near, 

 and could only be delayed a few minutes, for with regret, 

 though the snow was now falling fast and the weather any- 

 thing but enjoyable, I was brought to a halt. On collect- 

 ing the spoil I had nineteen geese and forty-one ducks, a 

 load sufficient for a Canadian pony. However, I managed 

 to stow them all in a fence corner, there to remain till sent 

 for, and most unwillingly I turned towards home. My 

 last view of the field was of broad bills in ever-increasing 

 regiments rushing on to the devoted crop, and I have 

 little doubt, if my ammunition had lasted, that I could 

 have shown a score that had seldom previously been 

 made. 



BLACK DUCK. 



The black duck is of all wild-fowl, scarcely even except- 

 ing geese and swans, the wildest and most difficult to 

 induce to come within gunshot. All who have shot upon 

 the low sedgy shores of the Chesapeake will confirm this 

 assertion, for well and frequently must, he remember to 

 have watched with anxious and impatient eye this dusky 



BLACK DUCK. 



