168 RIVER AND POND DUCKS 



permanent camp, known as a "duck stand/' at which one or more 

 gunners lived constantly all through the shooting season. This consisted 

 of a small house or shanty equipped with sleeping bunks for several 

 men, a stove for cooking and heating, and shutters to prevent the lights 

 showing through the windows at night. Along the shore was built a 

 fence or stockade in which portholes were cut so that several men could 

 shoot through it without being seen. The house and fence were com- 

 pletely covered with leafy branches which rendered the whole structure 

 practically invisible from the lake. A large supply of live decoys, semi- 

 domesticated Black Ducks, Mallards, and Canada Geese were enclosed 

 in the water or allowed to roam about. With all this elaborate equip- 

 ment ready for action, the gunners, hardly to be called sportsmen, spent 

 their time inside the house playing cards, etc. One man remained on the 

 watch for ducks. Should a flock appear, they would all take their places 

 at the portholes with heavy guns ready for the slaughter. Each gunner 

 knew at which section of the flock he was to shoot when the signal was 

 given to fire. If the affair had been well managed, most of the flock was 

 killed or disabled, but as the frightened survivors rose in hurried con- 

 fusion a second volley was poured into them and only a few escaped. 



In autumn the first flights, which consist mainly of the younger 

 birds, commence early in September, at about the same time as the flight 

 of the Blue-winged Teal. Through autumn the flight increases in volume 

 and in the size of the flocks, though the Black never does fly in very 

 large flocks. In spring the latter part of March sees them on their way 

 back to the ponds and streams of yesteryear and to family cares. In win- 

 ter, when the last of the ponds and swamps of the interior has frozen, the 

 Blacks are forced to the sea coast, where they spend most of the day rid- 

 ing in safety well out from shore, or, if the sea be rough, in the lee of 

 ledges, in little coves, or in the bays. In the evening they return to the 

 marshes, ponds, and mud flats of the vicinity to feed during the night. 



THE SEPARATION OF THE BLACK DUCK INTO Two SUBSPECIES 



In 1902 William Brewster described the Red-legged Black Duck, 

 and divided the Black Duck into two subspecies. Controversy has raged 

 on the question ever since and the matter, in the opinion of many, has 

 not yet been satisfactorily settled. 



The arguments for and against the separation of the Black Duck 

 into two subspecies may be summarized as follows: 



ARGUMENT FOR 



Most sportsmen and many naturalists affirm that the physical dif- 

 ferences of the two varieties considered in conjunction with their en- 

 tirely different habits and behaviour, definitely establish the subspecific 

 standing of the two Black Ducks. 



The physical differences which are claimed to exist between the two 

 kinds of Black Ducks are: COMMON BLACK DUCK: Smaller bird, 



