r 



CHAPTER XXII. 



RED-HEAD DUCK SHOOTING. 



Low o'er the water in a bunch they come, 

 Brilliant in the sun that glossy head ; 

 We, in the sacred precinct of their home, 

 Rise, take aim, fire, then pick up the dead. 



WITH the solitary exception of the canvas-baek,, 

 epicures consider the red-head the finest eating of the 

 duck family. They are readily and frequently mis- 

 taken for canvas-back by hunters of experience ; others 

 have classed them as and believe them to be, a species of 

 canvas-back. But such opinions are really without 

 substantial foundation, as they are as distinct from the 

 canvas-back as any other variety of duck, notwith- 

 standing their similarity in appearance. At the first 

 glance they appear much like the canvas -back, but a 

 closer examination, indeed, a casual look to one who is 

 posted and the difference is readily detected. Place a 



