276 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
very easily decoyed, becoming more wary, however, when 
much shot at; but if severe weather, with ice and snow, 
set in, they soon forget the caution gained by previous ex- 
perience. 
The number of these ducks that are annually killed is 
surprising, the greatest slaughter among them being made 
from sink-boats, a species of box, which is sunk in the wa- 
ter till within a few inches of its level. To prevent the 
splash coming on board it has immense wings on either 
side, which lay on the surface of the water, and which are 
studded over with innumerable decoys. Of course it must 
be understood that this infernal machine is anchored, the 
gunner lying on his back and shooting upward as the game 
hovers over his head. Such experts have many of these 
Chesapeake wild-fowl shooters become, that they seldom 
put their gun to the shoulder. 
Over decoys, which are placed off points in the line of 
their flight, large numbers can be killed. Many repudiate 
this shooting, even condemn it; in this I can not agree, for 
quick shooting and great skill in management are required. 
Again: they are killed flying over dips in the land, when 
moving from 6ne feeding-ground to another; the large 
gun’s utility then shows itself (for detailed account, see 
* Afloat and Ashore,” published last year). 
The hospitality of Marylanders is proverbial ; the shoot- 
ing in their State is excellent; so a sojourn there is certain 
to be conducive of much pleasure to the sportsman. 
PIN-TAILED DUCK. , 
Sprig-tailed, pheasant, long-tailed, and pin-tailed duck are 
the names by which these handsome birds are known in 
different portions of the North American continent. Al- 
though not unfrequently found upon the coast, they are 
much more numerous on the swamp and sloughs of the in- 
