WILD FOWL. 75 



place at the North, about the first of November, and during win- 

 ter extends to the southern portion of the seacoast of the United 

 States. It is not unfrequently shot in the eastern part of the 

 Great South Bay, and I have known it to be captured in Long 

 Island Sound. The majority, however, congregate on the Po- 

 tomac and Delaware rivers. Those procured in the vicinity of 

 New-York, are inferior to those obtained on the tributaries of 

 the Chesapeake, owing to the difference in the quality of its 

 food. The Canvass-back feeds chiefly on the Zostera valisneria, 

 — commonly termed ' tape or eel-grass,' and by some impro- 

 perly called wild celery — which takes its growth in brackish 

 water. We do not wish this plant to be confounded with the 

 * tape or eel-grass,' Zostera marina, which furnishes food for the 

 Brent Goose. When its favorite food cannot be obtained, it 

 feeds on various marine plants and small shell-fish that abound 

 on our coast, which furnish an abundant supply of food to many 

 species of inferior note. When the valisneria cannot be ob- 

 tained, its flesh loses, in a great measure, that delicacy of flavor, 

 for which it is so justly celebrated. Like most other species, it 

 is in the best condition for the table during the latter part of 

 autumn. 



" Miller's Island, about fifteen miles from Baltimore, is a fa- 

 mous place for shooting Canvass-backs, as well as other species 

 of Ducks. ' Points' on this Island, and others in the vicinity, 

 are rented for large sums by parties who practise Duck-shooting. 

 In this section * decoys' are not used, and the unsportsmanlike 

 manner of sailing after and harassing them on their feeding 

 grounds, is not resorted to." — Giraud''s Birds of Long Island. 



" This celebrated American species, as far as can be judged 

 from the best figures and descriptions of foreign birds, is alto- 

 gether unknowTi in Europe. It approaches nearest to the Po- 

 chard of England — anasferina — but differs from that bird in be- 

 ing superior in size and weight, in the greater magnitude of its 

 bill, and the general whiteness of its plumage. A short com- 

 parison of the two will elucidate this point. The Canvass-back 



