AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



41 



they breed. When seen at a distance they appear as a re- 

 giment of soldiers, being arranged alongside of one another, 

 on the borders of the rivers, searching for food, which 

 chiefly consists of small fish, or the eggs of them, and of 

 water insects, which they search after by plunging in the 

 bill and part of the head; from time to time trampling with 

 their feet to muddy the water, that their prey may be 

 raised from the bottom. In feeding are said to twist the 

 neck in such a manner that the upper part of the bill is 

 applied to the ground; during this, one of them is said to 

 stand sentinel, and the moment he sounds the alarm, the 

 whole flock take wing. This bird when at rest stands on 

 one leg, the other being drawn up close to the body, with 

 the head placed under the wing on that side of the body 

 it stands on. 



"The flesh of these birds is esteemed pretty good meat; 

 and the young thought by some equal to that of a partridge; 

 but the greatest dainty is the tongue, which was esteemed 

 by the ancients an exquisite morsel. Are sometimes caught 

 young and brought up tame; but are ever impatient of cold, 

 and in this state will seldom live a great while, gradually 

 losing their colour, flesh, and appetite; and dying for want 

 of that food which in a state of nature, at large, they were 

 abundantly supplied with." 



For the Cabinet of Natural History. 



A NOTICE OF THE DUCKS, AND SHOOTING OF 

 THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. 



Mr. Editor: — As it is of great importance to the cause 

 of science, that a correct natural history of our country 

 should be established and preserved, every erroneous 

 assertion that remains uncontradicted by those on this side 

 of the Atlantic, will inevitably be credited in Europe; 

 and let our minds, manners, or institutions, be misrepre- 

 sented as they may, we must maintain truth, if possible, 

 in the history of our natural productions. 



A writer over the signature of S. H. in the Turf Regis- 

 ter, for August, 1833, in an interesting account of the 

 habits of the Ducks that are found in the Chesapeake Bay, 

 and of the different modes of destroying them, makes two 

 or three statements that require notice, as they may mis- 

 lead naturalists at a distance, and produce wrong impres- 

 sions at home. 



He says, there are two varieties of Canvass-back Duck; 

 "one has a shorter neck than the other, and its breast, 

 (unlike the other's,) is of a dark red colour." Having 



been a visitor to those waters for many years on Duck- 

 shooting expeditions, I have closely observed the variety 

 of water fowl that frequent them during the fall and win- 

 ter. I have on several occasions been accompanied by 

 naturalists of great industry and intelligence, and neither 

 them nor myself have ever been able to discover more 

 than the single species of Canvass-back, (Anas valisi- 

 neria.) 



The writer must certainly have mistaken birds of dif- 

 ferent ages for different varieties, the yearling being ge- 

 nerally of a lighter colour in the marking than the more 

 advanced bird. The old Red-heads resemble, in tint, the 

 Canvass-back, and it is only by the shape and colour of the 

 bill, that a partial observer can distinguish them. The 

 male Canvass-back is also much darker than the female, and 

 may have occasioned the error. Mr. Titian R. Peale, 

 Mr. George Ord, and Mr. C. L. Bonaparte, all ornitholo- 

 gists of great eminence, and accustomed to visiting the 

 Chesapeake, particularly Mr. Peale, support Wilson in 

 the belief of the existence of but one variety. 



The same writer also states, that the " Can vass-backs breed 

 in great abundance with other Ducks on the sea marshes 

 and small islands that are not habitable, along the shores 

 of the Gulf of Mexico. Large patches of ground are taken 

 up with their nests, which are about four feet apart." — 

 In this assertion he is undoubtedly mistaken. The Black 

 Duck, (Anas obscura,) and the Summer Duck, (A. sponsa,) 

 are the only Ducks that breed to any extent in the United 

 States. It occasionally happens that crippled Ducks of 

 other species consort together, and remain through the 

 warm season, but this is so alien to their usual habits, that 

 it cannot be regarded as natural to them. 



What have been mistaken for the nests and eggs of the 

 Canvass-backs, have no doubt been those of other birds, 

 perhaps a species of Gull, some of which tribe deposit 

 eggs not very unlike the Duck's and quite as edible. 

 He also asserts, that " Ducks of different species never 

 associate — never roost together, nor fly in the same flock, 

 when they are scared up together from the feeding ground." 

 If I was not convinced by his general correctness, that the 

 author has witnessed the habits of these birds himself, to 

 a certain extent, I should suppose he had taken the obser- 

 vations of very superficial observers for his guide. I have, 

 certainly, hundreds of times, seen Canvass-backs, Red- 

 heads, Black-heads, and Bald-pates, roosting, feeding, and 

 flying together; the latter, on many occasions, when they 

 had not been alarmed from their feeding ground, but mak- 

 ing their morning and evening flight, and when it must 

 have been a matter of choice. I have myself, times be- 

 yond number (and also witnessed the same in others) 

 killed at one discharge two species out of the same flying 



