304 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING. 
when their occupants are busily at work with their wea- 
pons, it requires no great stretch of the imagination to 
compare them to miniature war ships engaged in battle. 
The ducks are picked up as fast as they are shot, unless 
the firing is so brisk that it would be a waste of time to 
go after single birds. Some of the ducks fly a quarter of 
a mile perhaps, after being hard hit, and then fall life- 
less; hence many escape the bag of the sportsman. Others, 
when wounded, dive to the bottom of the bay, and taking 
hold of some weeds with their bills, cling to them until 
they are dead. These generally come to the surface when 
the warmth has left the body, as the muscles then relax 
their hold. 
Old squaws, or musical ducks as they are generally 
called, on account of their melodious cry, which may be 
expressed by the notes E. G. C. E. on the treble cleff of 
a piano, are considered excellent shooting, as they fly fast 
and are hard to kill. The fishermen say that these 
birds are regular members of a duck opera troupe; that 
their song is ‘‘ He’s got no gun,” and that they never 
vary it. Their four notes might certainly express this 
idea, for they are unusually noisy and bold when they see 
@ person passing them on shore without that deadly 
weapon in his hands; whereas the sight of it causes them 
to hasten away immediately if they have been shot at 
much. ‘Talk of instinct in birds! If they do not reason 
on cause and effect after a few lessons in the science of 
gunnery, then I make a mistake. Shooting sea ducks, 
except for their feathers, is not very profitable, as their 
flesh has so fishy a taste as to be almost uneatable. Some 
persons, however, manage to eat them and apparently to 
enjoy them. Among the methods recommended for mak- 
ing them palatable, one is to put an onion or two inside 
each bird, then place it over the fire in a pot of cold water, 
until the water is nearly ready to boil. It should then 
be taken out and roasted as ordinary ducks are. If 
