262 lewis' AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



Since writing the above, we have been assured by an experi- 

 enced and somewhat veteran Sportsman that both the Black- 

 Heads and the Red-Heads Tole with the same facility, and the 

 former Duck, if anything, even more easily than the Canvass- 

 Backs. From further observation and more minute inquiry on 

 the subject of Toling, we are now inclined to think that very 

 nearly all varieties of the Wild Fowl can be decoyed in the 

 way above described ; but at the same time we are m^ore than 

 ever convinced that the Canvass-Back is more susceptible to this 

 strange influence than any other Duck on our waters. The rea- 

 son why we were led at first to suppose that the Canvass-Back 

 alone could be influenced by these playful motions of a Dog 

 was owing to the circumstance of our never having at that time 

 Toled Wild Fowl on other waters than the Chesapeake, where 

 the Canvass-Back is always to be seen feeding during the shoot- 

 ing season in company with all the other varieties that flock to 

 this favorite resort ; and we had not perhaps considered how 

 seldom it was that a bed of Ducks could be seen on these 

 waters that did not chiefly consist of Canvass-Backs, as the 

 most of the other varieties keep company with these Ducks for 

 the purpose of feeding on the refuse of the celery which they, 

 by their superior strength and dexterity, are enabled to pull up 

 from the bottom of the rivers. We consequently may have 

 been perfectly correct in our assertion ^^ of never havii^g succeeded 

 in Toling any other species of Duck unaccompanied hy the Ganvass- 

 Bach f but at the same time our inferences may have been 

 entirely wrong, when we consider how seldom a hed of Ducks 

 is seen on these waters that is not principally composed of Can- 

 vass Backs. And, moreover, when we consider the acuteness 

 of vision and the never-ceasing watchfulness of the Canvass- 

 Back, we need not be at all surprised that they should be most 

 generally the first to notice the Dog or the first to take the lead 

 in the general movement towards the shore — all the other 



the part of the Dog -will induce the Ducks to come in, although on the preceding 

 day they may have exhibited the greatest eagerness to satisfy their curiosity on 

 this point. Tlie immediate cause of tliis fickleness on the part of these Fowl it 

 is difificult to explain, as it cannot be attributed to any sudden change in the 

 weather or other concomitant circumstances ■which most generally influence the 

 actions of the feathered race. 



