35 The Water-fowl Family 



this to the only blind. We finally reached it, 

 lucky to find no market hunter had camped there 

 the night before. The decoys were set, and we 

 waited for daylight. The morning at last broke 

 cloudy. Soon the first bird, a single brownback, 

 appeared over the water, heading for the flat and 

 the decoys at its edge. He dropped among them 

 and for a time refused to fly, watching first the 

 blind and then his wooden companions. Pres- 

 ently a flock followed his course, their graceful, 

 compact flight distinguishing them at a distance. 

 They hovered over the decoys, bunching up close 

 together, and hardly a bird escaped the raking 

 shots. The few that did, returned again, loath 

 to leave their dead and wounded. The wind now 

 freshened and for a few hours there was a pretty 

 flight, small bunches following each other at short 

 intervals, coming out of the east, heading for 

 the points in the same direction. By noon they 

 had stopped, and we counted a bag of some two 

 dozen birds. 



The dowitchers feed on the flats along with the 

 other shore-birds, but are the last to leave when 

 the gathering is disturbed. Animalculae and 

 worms comprise their food, and on this diet 

 they become fat and are excellent eating. The 

 birds follow the receding tide, and when high 

 water drives them from the flats seek the higher 

 bars and marshes. South of Long Island this 



