" They come from frosty solitudes, where broods the Arctic night, 

 Where deserts grim, spread vast and dim, in the auroral light. 

 The Esquimaux, with bended bow, fast paddling his canoe, 



Their flocks ^ath chas'd o'er icy waste of waters heavenly blue. 



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WATER-FOWL. 



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Most majestic of all American species of water-fowl is 

 the great trumpeter swan, of pure white plumage, graceful 

 in form and movement, large in size — attaining about twenty- 

 five,, pounds weight — but so small in numbers that it will no doubt 

 he J'ecorded, ere long, as an extinct variety of game in the United 

 ' States. 



]More numerous by far, yet still a rare visitant in most sections of the 

 countr^tA- except the lake and river regions and the ocean coast — is the 

 Can^/isL goose, or common wild goose, considered a prize by all lovers of 

 wild fowl shooting. The wild goose shooter, particular^ in the West, 

 usually ensconces himself snuglv under concealment of a blind, and decoys 

 (either live, domesticated- wild geese, or artificial figures) can be used to 

 advantage in most sections. The brant, practically, may be regarded as a 

 *' small edition " of the wild goose. 



The several species of ducks sought by wild-fowl shooters, rank in 

 about the following order. First, the highly- 

 prized canvas-back, a deligacy by reason of the 

 wild celery upon which it feeds in the Chesapeake 

 Bav, of the south, and Lake Koshkonong, of the 

 north ; then the red-head, closely resembling the 

 canvas-back in size, appearance and habits ; next „-^ ^p x 



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