12 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



ing ducks. In the fall, the Scaup, Black Duck, Shelldrake, Red- 

 head, Bufflehead, Brant and Canada Goose, are the common 

 species, while in the spring there are in addition straggling 

 Mallards, Pintails, and Widgeon. Goldeneyes are scarce ducks 

 in this region, and neither the Hooded nor American Merganser 

 are often seen, the Red-breasted being the common ''Shell- 

 drake " of the gunners. 



The Black Duck occurs regularly in both sorts of feeding 

 grounds and is very fond of the salt ponds on the meadows, 

 where a fine grass grows that is a favorite article of food. 



The Brant and Geese use the wide flats near the inlets, par- 

 ticularly the sound flats where they sit at low tide far from any 

 possibility of danger. When the tide comes in they fly up the 

 bay if it is windy, or if calm they drift up with the tide in large 

 flocks. Brant only become in prime condition for eating in the 

 Spring, and are therefore not much shot before January. Out- 

 side on the ocean occur the Scoters or Surf Coots and Long- 

 tails or Old Squaws, which occasionally come into the bays, 

 especially near the inlets. 



The diving ducks do not seem to pair before they leave us for 

 the north, but the Black Ducks pair early in March, and some 

 of them still breed in sheltered places along the New Jersey 

 coast, although the vast majority move north by the middle of 

 that month. 



The boats used for shooting on the New Jersey marshes 

 are apparently peculiar to this region and Long Island. 

 They are twelve feet long, four feet wide and about fifteen 

 inches deep, decked over with a cockpit some four and a half 

 feet long, surrounded with a rail about an inch and a half 

 high. It also has a canvass curtain in front about eighteen 

 inches high, extending to the rowlocks where it is about six 

 inches high. This curtain is raised by putting a stick under it 

 and keeps out the wind and waves in rough weather. The 

 bottom of the boat is oval, rising forward and aft to meet the 

 deck, which curves down from the cockpit to meet it. From 

 the rowlocks aft, there is provided a detachable rack to hold the 

 decoys or stools, which number from forty to fifty. They are 

 hollowed out, carved and painted, to represent the several kinds 



