346 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



that they did not appear at all alarmed, and concluded that they 

 must be frozen, or something of the sort ; they consequently did 

 not fire, but continued to approach until they caught one. Upon 

 this the others scattered, but did not attempt to fly ; and a chase 

 ensued, which ended in the capture of no less than seventy-six, all 

 black and gray ducks, and one wild goose. The next day they 

 came across some more in the same way, and took thirty-four : in 

 all, one hundred and eleven. Did you ever see or hear the like of 

 that ? a novel sort of duck-hunting ! The birds were actually so 

 fat that the punters attribute their success in taking them to their 

 inability to rise in consequence." 



Canvas-backs fly with great strength and velocity, and require a 

 heavy blow to bring them down ; if winged only, it is almost use- 

 less to pursue them either with a dog or in a boat, as they dive 

 with so much celerity, and swim such great distances under water, 

 that it is next to an impossibility to overtake them, or even to 

 shoot them if within gunshot, as they only come to the top of 

 the water for an instant, and duck down again before a snap-shot 

 could get a range on them even with a light partridge-gun, let 

 alone a heavy duck-gun. Dogs accustomed to duck-shooting soon 

 learn this fact, as before stated, and will not be induced to follow 

 after a wounded canvas-back if able to dive. The shooter will 

 therefore see at once the importance of striking canvas-backs in a 

 vital spot. The head and neck are the portions we should always 

 endeavor to hit, as a single pellet of shot lodged in these portions 

 of the body will do as much execution as a half-dozen imbedded in 

 the breast or other fleshy parts. To accomplish this, many cir- 

 cumstances must be taken into consideration, and must be run over 

 in one's mind at a moment when there is not a second to ponder 

 on the subject. For example, we should be able to tell at a glance 

 the probable distance the ducks are from us, their height, the velo- 

 city with which they are flying, the course they are pursuing, &c. 

 &c. ; for without a just appreciation of all these particulars we 

 shall be very apt to shoot over them, under them, before them, or 

 behind them. This kind of rapid mental calculation, though very 



