222 GAME BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



boat is to be used as a blind, then all you have to do is to place it 

 parallel to the line of decoys and place cakes of ice on the side of 

 it next to the decoys, so as to make the boat look like a hummock 

 of ice. But in this case, it is necessary to wear a long white shirt 

 and have one's hat white by using a havelock. Then by sitting in 

 the boat or on the ice, it is almost impossible for the ducks to see 

 you, provided you keep quiet. A great many persons in shooting 

 on ice whiten their gun barrels with chalk, as a black barrel is very 

 apt to be noticed, but this is scarcely necessary, provided the 

 shooter makes no sudden movement. 



It is scarcely necessary to say that the shooting on the Chesa- 

 peake and adjacent waters is by no means confined entirely to 

 Canvas-backs. Water fowl exist here not only in vast numbers 

 but in the greatest variety. Swans, geese of several species, red- 

 heads, black ducks, broad-bills, widgeons, teal and many other 

 species less prized by epicures, make these waters their winter 

 home, and may be shot in quantities from October to April. 



In the Western States the Canvas-back makes its appearance 

 about the middle or last of October, and remains on the water of 

 these States until freezing weather comes, when they withdraw to 

 more southern localities or to the sea coast. In the interior they are 

 chiefly shot over decoys which are placed on their feeding grounds, 

 the sportsman being concealed in a blind near at hand. As the 

 birds feed to a great extent on the roots of an aquatic plant, which 

 does not grow in deep water, they often approach quite near to 

 the shore and give very easy shots. On rainy days these birds ap- 

 pear to be uneasy, and fly much more than in pleasant weather 

 They come to decoys better, too, and it is on such days that the 

 best bags are made. The Canvas-back can only be regarded as 

 a straggler on our New England coast. 



Biiaphala. clangitla. — Coues. Golden-eye. Garrot. Whistler. 

 The Whistler, as it is most commonly called on our coast, is a 

 bird of very wide distribution, being a European species, and 

 .bund also throughout the whole of North America. Unlike 

 the majority of our ducks, this species never congregates in very 

 large flocks, and it is not much sought after by sportsmen. It is 

 a fair table bird, much superior in this respect to the majority of 



