270 KRIDER'S SPORTING ANECDOTES. 



Freshets, to which the shallow waters of the 

 river are constantly liable, drive the ducks, for 

 the time, into the lower bay, where they feed 

 upon eel-grass, small fish, and scaup. Very 

 severe weather reduces them to great extremities, 

 by freezing the water over the flats, and cutting 

 them off from the celery grass. Advantage is 

 sometimes taken of this by the shooters, who cut 

 large holes in the ice over the shoals, and firing 

 from an ambuscade at the ducks which eagerly 

 congregate around these spots, commit terrible 

 havoc. They dart well to the decoys in a snow- 

 storm, indifferently in a calm, or when the wind 

 and tide are contrary, and always best in the 

 early part of the da}'-, and an hour or two before 

 sunset. 



Their nights are much regulated by the state 

 of wind and weather, and it is said that some 

 shooters, by paying close attention to the signs, 

 will go out after sunrise, and, selecting a judicious 

 position for their batteries, often kill more ducks 

 in a few hours, than those who have been astir 

 long before the first glimmer of dawn. This is 

 remarked especially of the Boyds of Havre de 

 Grace, one brother of the two being noted for 

 his judgment in placing the box, and the other 

 for his skill in levelling the ducks. 



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