THE RED-HEAD 185 



of economy as well as humanity to give him the sec- 

 ond barrel before he strikes the water. I found it 

 difficult to recover wounded birds from a sail-boat. As 

 we approached them swimming on the water, they 

 went under before they could be picked up, and ap- 

 peared again a long way off. The best retrievers often 

 fail to secure them. The red-heads are not abundant 

 on the Pacific Coast. Mr. Thompson, in a recent 

 article, *' Duck Shooting Along the Columbia," says 

 the red-head, along that stream, is very rare. I found 

 the red-heads this spring extremely abundant at Back 

 Bay, Currituck, far more abundant than any other 

 duck. 



