FOWL SHOOTING. 141 



balls so often, that his expeditions are at present confined to the 

 night. Sailing with a stiff breeze upon the Geese and Swans, 

 or throwing rifle balls from the shore into their beds, is some- 

 times successful. 



" Moonlight shooting has not been a general practice, but as 

 these birds are in motion during light nights, they could readily 

 be brought within range by ' honking' them when flying. This 

 sound is very perfectly imitated at Egg Harbor ; and I have 

 seen Geese drawn at a right angle from their course by this 

 note. They can indeed be made to hover over the spot, and if 

 a captive bird was employed, the success would become certain. 



" Notwithstanding the apparent facilities that are off"ered of 

 success, the amusement of Duck shooting is probably one of the 

 most exposing to cold and wet ; and those who undertake its 

 enjoyment, without a courage ' screwed to the sticking point,' 

 will soon discover that ' to one good a thousand ills oppose.' 

 It is indeed no parlor sport, for after creeping through mud and 

 mire, often for hundreds of yards, to be at last disappointed, and 

 stand exposed on points to the ' pelting rain, or more than 

 freezing cold,' for hours, without even the promise of a shot, 

 would try the patience of even Franklin's ' glorious nibbler.' 

 It is, however, replete with excitement and charm To one who 

 can enter on the pleasure with a system foraied for polar cold, 

 and a spirit to endure ' the weary toil of many a stormy day,' 

 it will yield a harvest of health and delight that the ' roamer of 

 the woods' can rarely enjoy. 



" Although this far-famed bird was named by its discoverer 

 after the plant Valisneria Americana, on which it partially feeds 

 when on fresh waters, its subsistence is by no means dependent 

 upon that species, which indeed is not extensively distributed, 

 but is chiefly derived from the grass- wrack, or eel-grass, Zostera 

 niarina, which is very abundant on the shallows and flats along 

 the whole sea-coast. Its flesh seems to me not generally much 

 superior to that of the Pochard, or Red-head, which often min- 

 gles in the same flocks ; and both species are very frequently 

 promiscuously sold in the markets as Canvass-backs." 



