280 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
of ducks in a boat that has a screen around it high enough 
to conceal the fowler and the man at the oar; or ina 
craft which resembles a huge swan, and is accompanied 
by decoys, which are placed on each side. The latter is 
only large enough to contain two men, and one of these 
shoots while the other uses the oar through an aperture 
in the rear part of the mock swan, to prevent it from 
being seen by the birds. A novice is more likely to make 
a big bag of canvas-back ducks from either of these con- 
trivances than from a sink-box, especially on calm days, 
as the birds do not seem to fear it, and await its arrival 
with a feeling of curiosity rather than alarm. The men 
who shoot in this manner use from fifty to one hundred 
decoys, and when they have ‘“‘planted” these they stand 
off until the flocks alight, then scull down on them, 
and blaze away until the last bird has got beyond 
range. The services of the ‘“‘bushwackers ” can generally 
be secured at sums ranging from ten to fifteen dollars a 
day, decoys and boats included, and, perhaps, for less, 
when the best part of the season is over. 
A great many sportsmen enjoy their shooting from the 
shore, generally behind blinds, by paying a small license 
fee to the State; but if any of them dared to violate the 
game laws they would soon find themselves in trouble, for 
policemen are stationed in cabins all along the shore, and 
they are prompt in arresting transgressors. The best 
“shooting points” along Chesapeake Bay, are occupied 
by clubs of sportsmen, who rent them year after year, if 
not for a long series of years, and who have erected com- 
fortable quarters for themselves. The shares in some of 
these clubs are so highly appreciated that they sell at a 
thousand dollars each, and much more if they are the 
property of ‘‘high-toned affairs,” to use the vernacular. 
The game dinners of some of these clubs cannot be ex- 
celled in any part of the world, and whoever would know 
how wild-fowl, terrapins, and terrapin eggs should be 
