XIV PKEFACE. 



the Potomac, in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, 

 where it feeds upon an acquatic plant known as the 

 Valisneria, upon which it bestows its generic name. 

 Innumerable flights of these ducks are found on the 

 waters of Chesapeake Bay, where the plants which are 

 its favourite food grow in abundance. It is to the root 

 of the wild celery that the canvas-back owes its ex- 

 quisite flavour, and it is so highly esteemed in the 

 United States, that a pair is worth from three to four 

 dollars in the markets of New York, Philadelphia, 

 and Boston. It is with the aid of decoys that the 

 canvas-backs are usually caught ; but battues are fre- 

 quently organized with flotillas of boats to shootthem 

 with duck-guns. The sportsmen of Chesapeake Bay 

 are so jealous of their rights, that in certain treaties 

 between the neighbouring States, special clauses 

 have been introduced to regulate the boundaries for 

 getting these birds reserved to each of the contract- 

 ing parties. Some years ago, the infraction of this 

 article in a treaty was the cause of a very serious 

 quarrel between the inhabitants of Philadelphia and 

 those of Baltimore, and the dispute became so bitter 

 that gun-boats were chartered with armed men on 

 board, to prevent all further breaches of the regula- 

 tions, and if the Washington Government had not 

 conciliated the parties, blood would inevitably have 

 been spilled. 



The present volume contains a chapter entirely 



