54 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



America. The great Whistling Swan occurs there regularly in hundreds, if not 

 thousands; Canada Geese in tens of thousands, while such raft-ducks as Lesser 

 Scaup, and Redhead pass the winter there in incredible numbers. The Canvas- 

 back is more or less common, though much more rare than a few years ago, and 

 the same may be said in regard to the Ruddy Duck. The other sea-ducks, and the 

 Brant, are only stragglers on this fresh-water sound, but the river-ducks that do 

 not raft, such as Mallard, Black Duck, Baldpate, both eastern Teals, Gadwall and 

 Pintail, are common feeders on the marsh ponds and creeks. 



"On Pamlico and Core sounds geese and brant are very numerous. The raft- 

 ducks on these lower sounds are mostly Redhead and Scaup, with large numbers 

 of Scoters, Mergansers, Buffleheads, Old Squaws, Lesser Scaup, and a few of the 

 fresh-water ducks, the abundance and admixture of species depending on the charac- 

 ter of the locality. On the inside shoals and reefs, from Gull Shoal Island south 

 and west to Core Sound, more geese and brant gather, perhaps, than at any other 

 point on the coast of the United States. 



"The smaller sounds, the great estuaries with their creeks and marshes the- 

 rivers, lakes, and ponds of the eastern section of the State, are the winter homes 

 and feeding grounds for many species, the varying natural conditions and food 

 supply governing their abundance from day to day and from year to year. 



"Of late years, an acquired habit of many of the fowl inhabiting these waters 

 is doing more to preserve their numbers than any legal or other artificial method 

 yet attempted. This is the custom of feeding at night and leaving at dawn to 

 spend the day on the open sea, where the proximity of the ocean makes this refuge 

 available, or on some other open, deep-water sanctuary when the sea is too distant. 



"On the broad waters, ducks, geese, and swan are shot mainly from batteries, the 

 old-style coffin-box outfit having given way in some localities to the 'sit-up' battery. 

 This latter has a wing arrangement similar to the old style, but, as the name implies, 

 the box itself is of such size and shape, and so arranged and ballasted, as to enable 

 the gunner to await the fowl in a sitting position instead of lying flat on his back. 

 The decoys, two or three hundred in number, are arranged as formerly, mostly to- 

 the leeward of the box. 



"On the marsh, and on many of the shooting points on the creeks and rivers,, 

 bush or reed blinds are used, with a much smaller stand of decoys. When Mallard 

 or Black Duck are flying in broken bunches, from half a dozen to twelve or fifteen 

 decoys are often sufficient, particularly if two or three live birds are added to the 

 display. In goose shooting from blinds, live decoys are becoming more and more 

 common. Wooden or other artificial decoys for geese are extremely cumbersome 

 to handle, and most of those supplied are of doubtful utility. Two or three good 

 talking 'honkers' are worth more than a boatload of wooden 'idols.' 



"On Pamlico Sound, from a little above Cape Hatteras down to Core Sound, 

 box blinds are mostly used. Some gunners sink a 'goose box' on the dry shoals, in 

 close proximity to the water, and stake out their live decoys in the shallow water 

 close at hand. Occasionally a 'rolling blind' may be found. This is a box on 

 rollers, and is set up on the dry shoal well away from the decoys. When geese; 



