CANVASS-BACK. 283 



time frozen up, for the purpose of trapping. Walking along 

 the ice near the creek — I think called Little Creek — they saw 

 a number of Ducks on the ice, and crawled up very cautiously 

 to get a shot. They were, however, much surprised, on coming 

 near them, to find 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 

 AVild Goose. The next day they came across some moVe in the 

 same way, and took thirty- four — in all, one hundred and four. 

 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." 



Canvass-Backs fly with great strength and velocity, and 

 require a heavy blow to bring them down ; if Avinged only, it 

 is almost useless to pursue them either with a Dog or in a boat, 

 as they dive with so much celerity, and swim such great dis- 

 tances under water, that it is next thing 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 accus- 

 tomed to Duck-shooting soon learn this fact, as before stated, 

 and will not be induced to follow after a wounded Canvass-Back 

 if able to dive. The Shooter will therefore see at once the im- 

 portance of striking Canvass-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 circumstances 

 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 circum- 



