76 AMERICAN GAME. 



within range of their stool ducks, which are set out on 

 the edge of the reeds. They are fond of the seeds of the 

 wild oats that flourish so profusely on the flats of the 

 Delaware, and their flesh soon becomes delicate and 

 juicy." 



Of this statement I doubt not the correctness, although 

 what I have written above is founded on my personal 

 observation, having shot wild fowl in the United States 

 only on the Long Island and ITew Jersey shores, or the 

 inland rivers of the Atlantic coasts, and on the great 

 lakes, where decoy ducks cannot readily be procured. 



In England and on the continent of Europe Mallards 

 are netted in great numbers in deaoy ponds fabricated 

 for that purpose, a full account of which, with plans, 

 will be found in Beurich's British Birds, vol. ii. ; but as 

 this method is not adopted in the United States, it is 

 needless further to allude to it. 



" Like the Dusky Duck," says Mr. Giraud, in his very 

 clever and agreeable manual on the birds of Long Island, 

 " when pursued by the sportsman, it becomes shy, and 

 feeds at night, dozing away the day out of gun-shot from 

 the shore. 



" Early in the month of July, 1837, while hunting 

 over the meadows. for smaller game, I came upon a pair 

 of Mallard Ducks, moving slowly down the celebrated 

 ' Brick-house creek.' The thought occurred to me that 

 they were a pair of tame ducks that had become tired 

 of the monotony of domestic life, "and determined on 



