BAT-SNIPE AND OTHER WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 17 



melancholy wail of the speckled loon will float by with 

 musical cadence. Anon a riotous brook of wild ducks 

 will raise their scolding chatter; and anon a frightened 

 rabbit will scurry along with nimble leaps, or, sitting 

 erect on its haunches, will pause to gaze at the passer-by. 

 Anon a merry old squirrel will scamper up the trunk of 

 a tree, or, perched upon some bending twig, will chatter 

 to his mates, or nibble the hickory-nut held by its little 

 furry paws. These fair scenes are familiar to us all, and 

 it is pleasing to recognize them pictured in verse. 



'Tis autumn time — 

 The golden, mellow autumn time, 

 When skies are radiant, rich and warm, 

 The air delicious with its balm, 

 With laden branch and leafy spray. 

 Bright-colored by November day. 

 Magnificent, rare autumn time; 

 With honeyed fruits and leaves embrowned. 

 And gay blooms o'er thy forehead bound. 

 With scarlet vine-leaves crowned ; 

 All day the rosy-cinctured hours 

 Prolong, ill the grand forest bowers. 

 Their festival of fruits and flowers, 



A carnival sublime; 

 And now fowlers at the shore 

 The marsh, the cove, the bay explore. 

 So, hid in grass or yellow reed. 

 Seek out the haunts where wild fowl feed. 



The noblest fowl, and the one that affords the best 

 sport along our coast-line, is the brant. It does not pass 

 into fresh bays or brackish rivers, but confines itself to 

 the sea-board and to salt waters, where it finds its natural 

 food. In the spring it is abundant along the coast, when 

 migrating to northern feeding-grounds, but its stay is 

 then very brief. 



In the fall season it makes its welcome appearance in 

 the bays of Long Island and Jersey, below Barnegat 

 Inlet, and the birds are there killed in great numbers. 



