J34 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



geon J or Bald-pate, A. Americana; Red-head, § A.ferina; and 

 the Goose, II A. Canadensis, appear and rapidly distribute them- 

 selves down the bay. The Canvass-back, A. Valisneria, and 

 the Swan, Ci/gnus Americanus, rarely, unless the weather at the 

 North has been severe, appear in quantities until the middle of 

 November. All these fowl, when first arrived, are thin and 

 tasteless, from their privation during their migration, and per- 

 haps preparatory arrangements, and require some days at least 

 of undisturbed repose, to give them that peculiar flavor for 

 which some of them are so celebrated. During the low tides 

 succeeding their arrival, the birds sit on the flats far from the 

 shores, and rarely rise to the wing unless disturbed ; but when 

 the spring-tides render the water too- deep for feeding, they 

 commence their career, and pass down the bay in the morning, 

 and return in the evening. Most of these fowl feed on the 

 same grass, which grows abundantly on the shallows of the bay 

 and adjacent waters, and has been called duck-grass, Valisneria 

 Americana. It grows from six to eighteen inches in length, 

 and is readily pulled up by the root. Persons who have close- 

 ly observed these Duck while feeding, say the Canvass-back and 

 Black-head dive and pull the grass from the ground, and feed 

 on the roots, and that the Red-head and Bald-pate then consume 

 the leaves. Indeed, although the Bald-pate is a much smaller 

 bird than the Canvass-back, it has been seen to rob the latter, 

 immediately on his return from under the water, of all its spoil. 



" All these larger Duck are found together when feeding, but 

 separate when on the wing. That they feed on the same grass, 

 is evident from the similarity of flavor ; and those most accus- 

 tomed to the article have a difficulty in deciding on the kind of 

 Duck from the taste. Indeed, the Bald-pate is generally prefer- 

 red by residents. 



" By the middle of December, particularly if the weather has 

 been a little severe, the fowl of every kind have become so fat, 



X The American Widiicon. k Rcd-lieadod Duck ; Pochard. 



I! Canada Goose ; Wild Goose. 



