THE PIN-TAILED DUCK. 273 



liover over his head. Such experts have many of 

 these Chesapeake wild-fowl shooters become, that they 

 seldom put their gun to the shoulder. 



Over decoys which are placed oif points in the line 

 of their flight, large numbers can be killed. Many 

 repudiate this shooting, even condemn it ; in this I 

 cannot agree, for quick shooting and great skill in 

 management are required. 



Again they are killed flying over dips in the land, 

 when moving from one feeding-ground to another; the 

 large gun's utility then shows itself (for detailed 

 account, see " Afloat and Ashore," published last 

 year). 



The hospitality of Marylanders is proverbial ; the 

 shooting in their State is excellent, so a sojourn there 

 is certain to be conducive of much pleasure to the 

 sportsman. 



PIN-TAILED DUCK. 



Sprig-tailed, pheasant, long-tailed, and pin-tailed 

 duck are the names by which these handsome birds 

 are known in different portions of the North American 

 continent. Although not unfrequently found upon the 

 coast, they are much more numerous on the swamp 

 and sloughs of the interior. Strictly migratory in 

 their habits, they are invariably the earliest visitors 

 of the duck family that denote the termination of 

 winter, and the last to tell that autumn is about to 

 give place to the season of snow and ice. They breed 

 away up in the far north among the innumerable lakes 

 and rivulets of the Hudson Bay territory, and pass 

 their winter in the swamps and lagoons scattered over 

 the seaboard of Texas and other southern states. 



