282 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
nearly every species of edible bird indigenous to the At- 
lantic States, and these are prepared in such a manner 
that an epicure of the old school would almost faint from 
joy on eating them. 
Few scenes are more interesting than that witnessed on 
the Chesapeake during the wild-fowling season, for the 
sky is then dotted with dense clouds of squawking ducks 
of many species, honking geese, stately swans, and 
whooping cranes and herons, while vessels, boats, and de- 
coys ride on the water, numerous whitish puffs of smoke 
float in the air, and sharp detonations ring throughout 
the land and river like the sharp volleys of heavy bodies 
of skirmishers engaged in battle. Activity is visible ev- 
erywhere, for it is a regular campaign against the masses 
of wild-fowl that throng the sky and water. I have heard 
that a man standing near the shore could hear the re- 
ports of between five hundred and a thousand guns at a 
time when the season was at its height; that over five 
thousand persons were engaged in wild-fowling along the 
Maryland side of the Chesapeake during the winter and 
early spring, and that if all who fired off a gun there were 
enumerated, the number would exceed ten thousand, even 
by excluding those who shot from the shores of Virginia. 
This may give an idea of the abundance of birds in the 
region, and the terrific havoc committed among them. 
They are, in fact, shipped by the tens of tons to the 
northern cities, where they are sold at such low rates 
that the humblest of the working classes can enjoy game 
dinners very frequently, and at a cost little beyond what 
they would pay for beef or mutton. The shipments do 
not include ducks alone, as wild geese are also numerous, 
and swans are not uncommon. All species of shore-birds, 
such as the snipe, plover, curlew, sandpiper, tattler, and 
many others, help to swell the wild-fowler’s bag, for these 
are often almost, as abundant as leaves at Vallambrosa. 
and, being appreciated by epicures, they bring good prices. 
