306 



CANVASS-BACK DUCK. 



interest in success as the sportsman himself. During a flight, their eyes are 

 incessantly occupied in watching the direction from whence the birds come; 

 and I have frequently seen them indicate by their manner, the approach of a 

 flock so distant that the human eye would have overlooked it. As the 

 Ducks come on, the dog lies down, but still closely observing them, and the 

 moment the discharge occurs, jumps up to see the effect. If a Duck falls 

 dead, they plunge to bring it; but many of them wait to see how he falls, 

 and whither he swims, and they seem to be as aware as the gunner, of the 

 improbability of capture, and will not make the attempt, knowing from ex- 

 perience that a bird merely winged will generally save himself by swim- 

 ming and diving. These dogs usually bring one Duck at a time out of the 

 water; but a real Newfoundland, who was with me and my company this 

 autumn, was seen on several occasions to swim twenty yards further, and 

 take a second in the mouth to carry on shore. The indefatigability and am- 

 bition of these animals are remarkable, and a gentleman informed me he had 

 known his dog bring, in the space of one hour, twenty Canvass-backs and 

 three Swans from the water, when the weather was so severe that the animal 

 was covered with icicles, and to prevent his freezing he took his great-coat 

 to envelope him. Some dogs will dive a considerable distance after a Duck, 

 but a crippled Canvass-back or Black-head, will swim so far under the water, 

 that they can rarely be caught by the dog; and it often has been observed, 

 that the moment one of these Ducks, if merely winged, reaches the surface, 

 he passes under, and however calm, cannot be seen again. To give an idea 

 of the extreme rapidity with which a Duck can dive, I will relate an occur- 

 rence which was noticed by myself, and a similar one was observed by an- 

 other of the party the same day. A male South-southerly was shot at in 

 the water by a percussion-gun, and after escaping the shot by diving, com- 

 menced his flight. When about forty yards from the boat, he had acquired 

 an elevation of a foot or more from the surface. A second percussion-gun 

 was discharged, and he dived from the wing at the flash, and though the spot 

 of entrance was covered by the shot, soon rose unharmed and flew. 



"Canvass-backs, when wounded on the streams near the bay, instantly 

 direct their course for it, and there nestle among the grass on the shores till 

 cured, or destroyed by Eagles, Hawks, Gulls, Foxes, or other vermin, that 

 are constantly on the search. If a dead Canvass-back be not soon secured, 

 it becomes a prey to the Gulls, which rarely touch any other kind. I have 

 seen severe contests take place between crippled Canvass-backs and Gulls; 

 and although a pounce or two generally prevents further resistance, some- 

 times they are driven off. If the bird is remarkably savoury, the Gull 

 makes such a noise, that others are soon collected, when possession is deter- 

 mined by courage or strength. 



