324 



VEIITEBIIATA. 



pav occasional visits or to luako it llnir regular residence during the winter. It occurs in some 

 paits of tlic Hudson; in tiie Delaware near Gloucester, a few miles below Philadelphia; and in 

 most of the rivers that fall into the Chesapeake, to each of which particular places these ducks 

 resort ; while in waters unprovided with this nutritive plant, they are altogether unknown. 



"On the first arrival of these birds in the Susqneliannah, near IIavre-de-( Jrace, they are gen- 

 erally lean; but su«li is the abundance of their favorite food that, toward the beginning of No- 

 vember, they are in i)retty good order. They arc excellent divers, and swim with great speed and 



agility. They sometimes as- 

 semble in such multitudes as to 

 cover several acres of the river, 

 and when they rise suddenly, 

 produce a noise resembling 

 thunder. They float about these 

 shoals, diving and tearing up 

 the grass by the roots, which is 

 the only part they cat. They 

 are extremely shy, and can 

 rarely be approached, unless by 

 stratagem. When wounded in 

 the wing they dive to such pro- 

 digious distances, and with such 

 rapidity, continuing it so perse- 

 verinoflv, and with such cunning 

 and active vigor, as ahiiost al- 

 ways to render the pursuit hope- 

 less. From the great demand 

 for these ducks, and the high 

 price they uniformly bring in 

 market, various modes are practiced to get within gunshot of them. The most successful way 

 is said to be decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner lies closely con- 

 cealed in a proper situation. The dog, if properly trained, plays backward and forward along the 

 margin of the water; and the ducks, observing his maneuvers, enticed perhaps by curiosity, grad- 

 ually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards of the spot 

 where the gunner lies concealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water, and then as 

 they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glar- 

 ing object, such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's middle, or to his tail ; and this 

 rarely fails to attract them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman directs his skiff" toward a 

 flock whose position he had previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some 

 wood, bank, or headland, and paddles along so silently and imperceptibly as often to approach 

 within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of many thousands, among whom he generally makes 

 great slaughter. 



" Many other stratagems are practiced, and, indeed, every plan that the ingenuity of the expe- 

 rienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gunshot of these birds ; but of all the modes 

 pursued, none intimidate them so much as shooting them by night ; and they soon abandon the 

 place where they have been thus repeatedly shot at. During the day they are dispersed about ; 

 but toward evening collect in large flocks, and come into the mouths of creeks, where they often 

 ride as at anchor, with their head under their wing, asleep, there being always sentinels awake 

 ready to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in 

 small parties, the whole never go down at one time, but some arc still left alone on the look-out. 

 " When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the Canvas-Backs retreat to its 

 confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air-holes in the ice, which are sometimes made 

 for the purpose, immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gunshot of the hut 

 or bush, which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed, ready 



THE AMERICAN SCAUP DCCK. (See p. 323.) 



