THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 275 



CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 



The canvas -back duck, considered by many to be the 

 greatest delicacy of all American game, is a magnificent 

 bird about the size of the mallard, and not unlike, in plum- 

 age, the English widgeon. However, there is a marked char- 

 acteristic by which they never can be mistaken, namely, a 

 dip in the centre of the bill, while the upper portion of it 

 runs very far over the forehead. 



Rearing their young during summer upon the edge of 

 the Arctic Circle, no sooner do indications of approaching 

 winter occur, than on rapid and powerful wing they sweep 

 down the line of coast, seldom ceasing their flight till the 

 estuary of the Delaware or Chesapeake Bay are reached, 

 many continuing their course southward even to the marshes 

 of Louisiana, and the swamps on the sea-boundary of Texas. 



On the Pacific coast they also swarm within the same de- 

 grees of latitude as on the Atlantic. Thus it may be seen, 

 from their not being found in the interior of the continent, 

 that they are essentially a sea-duck. A curious circum- 

 stance connected with them is, that until they have fed on 

 the vallisneria, familiarly known as water -celery, the flesh 

 of the canvas-back is insipid and fishy; and as this plant 

 grows in the greatest abundance on the Chesapeake, espe- 

 cially on a portion called the Susquehanna Flats, the duck 

 that are killed there are of far more value than when shot 

 elsewhere. 



As these birds are exceedingly strong, tremendous divers, 

 and covered with a very close coating of feathers, they re- 

 quire a large-bore gun. My selection should be, after the 

 experiences of last season, a single-barrel No. 6, with No. 

 3 shot for flight shooting; a No. 10 or 8 double-barrel, 

 with No. 5 shot for point shooting. 



Immediately after their arrival from the North, they are 



