42 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



~\ 



or sitting flock. This, I should presume, had been the 

 experience of most Duck shooters on the Chesapeake. 



The Red-head and Canvass-back are most accustomed to 

 associate in feeding and flying, and nothing is more com- 

 mon than to hear the whistle of the Bald-pate in a flock of 

 some scores of the kinds just mentioned, which whistle, in 

 a flying flock, is always dreaded by thegunner as indicative 

 of an alarm in these watchful birds, which soon extends to 

 the rest, and prevents the possibility of a close shot. 



The writer above alluded to, has named the species of 

 Ducks usually found on the Chesapeake and its tributary 

 streams; but as he has given different names for the same 

 birds, it may mislead. For example, he speaks of the 

 Widgeon and Bald Pate as two varieties, when they are 

 the same species. It is the same with the Bull or Buffel 

 head, and the Dipper; and the Coote or Surf Duck, I 

 presume, to be one of his varieties of Black-head. He does 

 not mention the little Ruddy Duck, or Heavy-tail, as it is 

 called, although they abound in every nook and cove. 



The following is a correct table of the Ducks that are 

 found on those waters:— 



Swan, (Cygnus Jimericanus.) Goose, (Anas Cana- 

 densis.) Brant, (A. bernicla.) Canvass-back, (A. valisi- 

 neria.) Red-head, (A. ferina.) Bald-pate, or Widgeon, 

 (A. Jlmericana.) Blue-bill, or Black-head, (A. marila.) 

 Scoter Duck, (A. nigra.) Tufted Duck, (A. fuligula, 

 Wilson and Fuligula rufitorques, Bonaparte.) Blue- 

 wing Teal, (A. discors.) Green do. do. (A. crecca.) 

 Mallard, (A. boschas.) Black Duck, (A. obscura.) Buf- 

 fel-head, Butter-box, or Dipper, (A. albeola.) Gad wall, 

 or Grey Duck, (A. strepera.) Spoon-bill, or Shoveller, 

 (A. clypeata.) Sprig, or Pin-tail, (A. acuta.) Golden- 

 eye, (A.clangula.) Velvet, or Channel Duck, (A.fusca,) 

 Ruddy Duck, or Heavy-tail, (A. rubidus.) South South- 

 erly, Long-tailed Duck, or Old Wives, (A. glacialis.) 

 Surf Duck, (A. perspicillata.) Water Witch, or little 

 Grebe, (Podiceps Carolinensis,) and the Horned Grebe, 

 sometimes called Water Witch, (P. cormitus,) Goosander, 

 (Mergus merganser,) and the Red-breasted Merganser, 

 Hairy-crown, or Fisherman, (M. serrator.) 



I will close my strictures on the Register corres- 

 pondent, and give the result of a few days shooting on 

 the Chesapeake, last fall, by a party of four gentlemen, of 

 which I was one. We were landed on our Point, from the 

 Port Deposit steam boat, at 2 P. M. Weather cool; little 

 wind, and that favourable; a small flight — 



1 Swan. 

 18 Canvass-backs and Red-heads. 



By dark — the game was - 



2d day — wind and weather fair, 



flight pretty good, - 53 do. do. do. etc. 



3d day — sultry — not a breath of air, 



and a poor flight, - 51 do. do. do. 



4th day — same weather, flight 



still less 

 5th day, till 9 A. M; — weather and 



flight good, 



- £38 



Swan. 

 Canvass-back, etc. 



39 



do. 



do. 



201 



Of this number, there were, 2 Swans — 92 Canvass-backs — 86 Red' 

 necks— 13 Black-heads — 4- Buifel-heads — 1 Golden-eye— 1 Black Duck — 

 1 Mallard, and 1 Fisherman. 



I do not give this statement as great success; but it was 

 good, — considering the space of time, — that all were shot 

 on the wing, from the points, — and that during two days 

 every thing was unfavourable, and exactly that combina- 

 tion of circumstances that would prevent a resident on the 

 Bay from even loading his gun. 



Being a thorough Sportsman yourself, Mr. Editor, yon 

 are fully aware that the pleasure of such amusements does 

 not depend solely upon the quantity of game bagged; for 

 if so, the toling, or skiffing shots, procuring more birds, 

 would consequently produce more delight. Hat that mur- 

 derous mode being deficient in the great cause of plea- 

 sure, excitement, it is rarely practised by the real Sports- 

 man. Any person, who can hold a gun to his shoulder, can 

 kill Ducks on the water; but to strike them at 60 or 80 

 yards distance, when flying at the rate of 87 feet in a second 

 of time, requires a dexterity in the use of the gun that 

 every man cannot boast of; and to do with even compara- 

 tive certainty, what few can attain to, is a pleasure that the 

 indolent toler cannot conceive. 



To have a shot, occasionally, even without killing, is an 

 agreeable mode of passing a certain time, somewhat like 

 Dr. Franklin's nibbling fisherman; for you have leisure 

 to calculate the value of your gun, the range of your shot, 

 and your deficiencies, preparatory to the next bird. But 

 when you have a good point, — fine weather, — fair wind,-^ 

 handsome flight, — industrious dog, — trusty gun, — genuine 

 Pigou or Dupont, — Sparkes' single B., and a friend to 

 praise a good and excuse a bad shot, — no man can 

 want a doctor, or, for the time, an additional pleasure in 

 the world. I. T. S. 



DEER HUNTING. 



The different modes of destroying Deer are probably 

 too well understood, and too successfully practised, in the 

 United States; for, notwithstanding the almost incredible 

 abundance of these beautiful animals in our forests and 

 prairies, such havoc is carried on amongst them, that, in a 

 few centuries, they will probable be as scarce in America, 

 as the Great Bustard now is in Britain. 



