238 



RECREATION. 



Ate 



4i^ ^C 



"WHEN THE BIRDS COME IN. 



hardships and privations. I have 

 kept the most toothsome things to 

 the last, as we do in case of a good 

 dinner. Every day we got from 10 

 to 20 birds to each gun. They 

 were brant, black ducks, coots, shell- 

 drakes, broad-bills, hairy-heads, and 

 dippers, elsewhere called butter 

 balls. We saw a number of geese, 

 but they kept out of range. We 

 were a month too early for them. 

 I think we saw a hundred thousand 

 brant, or black ducks, in the three 

 days I was there. They would float 

 and feed not over a mile from us, but 

 as the weather was fine, they kept 

 in immense flocks and would seldom 

 come to stool. In stormy weather 

 they scatter and are more easily at- 

 tracted by decoys. 



The natives know the habits of 

 these birds and build blinds on their 

 feeding grounds. These are simply 

 brush stuck in the mud, over which 

 the depth of water varies from a foot 

 to four feet, according to tide. After 



putting out your decoys, you hide 

 your boat and yourself in the blind. 

 Of course, it isn't like shooting a big 

 moose, with a side as broad as a barn 

 door; but it's exciting, all the same, 

 when you see a bunch of brant or 

 black ducks coming and fall to won- 

 dering whether they will come within 

 range. How your heart does thump 

 as they settle down among your de- 

 coys! If they are still a moment, it is 

 hard to tell the real birds from the 

 counterfeits, especially in twilight. 



If I hadn't harmed a feather, I 

 would have relt repaid for my trip. 

 I reaped great benefit from those 

 few days and nights on the salt 

 marshes. The evenings were simply 

 delightful. As our sloop lay at an- 

 chor in the bay, I would go on deck, 

 and with nothing in sight but the 

 stars, Cape Charles and Hog Island 

 lights I felt entranced. The quack- 

 ing and chattering of countless 

 birds of varying abilities was rare 

 music, and I would spend hours im- 

 agining how many I would get on 

 the morrow. 



The sloop I speak of so kindly is 

 used by Captain Miles, at this season, 

 merely to live on, as the shooting 

 grounds are too far from his house 

 to sail to and from every day. He 

 carried on board about 150 decoys, 

 which require a great deal of room. 

 We always anchor about a mile from 

 the shooting grounds, and use a dif- 

 ferent blind everyday. In the proper 

 season the geese and brant gi'/e 

 fine sport. For these many shooters 

 use an eight-bore gun, as a smaller 

 will not always do the work. If you 

 write Captain R. E. Miles, Machi- 

 pongo, Va., he will tell you, honestly 

 whether to come or not, for he prides 

 himself on his truthfulness, and for 

 which I can vouch. In the spring, 

 excellent sport may be had there in 

 the way of snipe-shooting and drum- 

 fishing, about which, I would be 

 pleased to tell you later. 



Recreation arrived to-day, and 1 have been di- 

 gesting it from cover to cover. It is without doubt 

 the most newsy sportsmen's monthly published, and 

 you deserve great credit for it. 



Charles R. Palmer, M- D., 



West Chester, Pa. 





