10 CANVASS-BACK DUCK. 
a gun of great size, fixed on a swivel in a boat, and the destruction of 
game on their feeding-flats has been immense ; but so unpopular is the 
plan, that many schemes have been privately proposed of destroying 
his boat and gun, and he has been fired at with balls so often that his 
expeditions are at present confined to the night. Sailing with a stiff 
breeze upon the geese and swans, or throwing rifle-balls from the shore 
into their beds, is sometimes successful. 
“ Moonlight shooting has not been a general practice, but as these 
birds are in motion during light nights, they could readily be brought 
within range by “ honking” them when flying. This sound is very 
perfectly imitated at Egg Harbour; and I have seen geese drawn at a 
right angle from their course by this note. They can indeed be made 
to hover over the spot, and if a captive bird was employed, the success 
would become certain. 
“‘ Notwithstanding the apparent facilities that are offered of success, 
the amusement of duck-shooting is probably one ef the most exposing 
to cold and wet, and those who undertake its enjoyment without a 
courage “ screwed to the sticking-point,” will soon discover that “ to 
one good a thousand ills oppose.” It is indeed no parlour sport, for 
after creeping through mud and mire, often for hundreds of yards, to 
be at last disappointed, and stand exposed on points to the “ pelting 
rain or more than freezing cold,” for hours, without even the pro- 
mise of a shot, would try the patience of even Franxuin’s “ glo- 
rious nibbler.” It is, however, replete with excitement and charm, 
and to one who can enter on the pleasure, with a system formed for 
polar cold, and a spirit to endure “ the weary toil of many a stormy 
day,” it will yield a harvest of health and delight, that the “ roamer of 
the woods” can rarely enjoy.” 
Although this far-famed bird was named by its discoverer after 
the plant Valisneria Americana, on which it partially feeds when on 
fresh-water, its subsistence is by no means dependent upon that species, 
which indeed is not extensively distributed, but is chiefly derived from 
the grass-wrack or Eel-grass, Zostera marina, which is very abundant 
on the shallows and flats along the whole sea-coast. Its flesh seems to 
me not generally much superior to that of the Pochard or Red-head, 
which often mingles in the same flocks; and both species are very fre- 
quently promiscuously sold in the markets as Canvass-backs. 
In the Plate are represented two Males anda Female. In the back 
