CANVASS-BACK. 269 



well known on the Chesapeake Bay, for his skill in thjs par- 

 ticular sport, has killed as many as one hundred and eighty- 

 seven Ducks in one day, and during the seasons of 1846 and 

 1847, actually bagged seven thousand Canvass-Backs. 



This system of killing Ducks, we believe, was introduced on 

 the Chesapeake Bay by some of the experienced "Wild Fowl 

 Shooters from the vicinity of New York, and who now reap a 

 rich harvest from their hardihood and ingenuity. It is no 

 unusual thing for one of these men to kill as many as fifty 

 couples of Canvass-Backs in the course of a day ; and if the 

 weather prove favorable for this kind of shooting, they have 

 been known to fill a small vessel with Ducks in two or three 

 days, and which they immediately dispatch for the markets of 

 New York, Baltimore, or Philadelphia. These worthies that 

 pursue Wild Fowl for a living, usually make their appearance 

 on the Chesapeake Bay in small yachts, or rather, ill-looking 

 sloops, in which they live and stow away their plunder, seldom 

 or ever visiting the neighboring shores, knowing full well the 

 reception they most likely would meet with from the hands of 

 those residents who also kill Ducks during the winter season to 

 sell, and consequently, from selfish motives alone, are very 

 jealous and testy of their rights, which the legislature has en- 

 deavored to define, but they are wanting in sufficient moral 

 energy or principle to enforce. 



When the wind is blowing pretty fresh, and the ripple high, 

 the Ducks are more apt to notice the Decoys than on a per- 

 fectly mild day, and are also more likely to alight among them. 

 When Ducks are approaching the Battery, the distance at 

 which they are from it is often very delusive, insomuch that 

 the inexperienced Sportsman will find himself continually 

 rising up to shoot before the Fowl have got over the Decoys, 

 and even long before they have come within fair shooting 

 range. This act of "rising-up" too soon on the part of the. 

 Shooter is a common fault with beginners, and is fatal to hi& 

 success in most instances; as the Ducks, immediately on his 

 appearance, take the alarm, and, making a sudden turn, sheer 

 off" in time to save themselves. 



Ducks should be shot after they have alighted, or just when 

 dropping their legs in the act of settling on the water, and not 

 a moment sooner. 



