THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 16 December, 1920 No. 9 



The Canvasback Duck 



Lillian F. Brotherhood 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



The canvasback duck is exclusively an American species. In 

 the early part of the nineteenth century they were very plentiful 

 along the shores of Chesapeake Bay. We can get some idea of 

 their great numbers when we read some of the old records kept by 

 the gunning clubs of that region. One of these records shows that 

 in the season of 1846-47 one man shot seven thousand canvasback 

 ducks, his greatest number for one day being one hundred and 

 eighty-seven. It may be said here that the gunner had no trouble 

 in disposing of his game for the epicures of both this country and of 

 Europe created a great market for these birds whose flesh was 

 thought by all to be the most palatable of all game birds. Indeed 

 they must have been abundant in that region for some of the old 

 slave contracts of that period contain provisions whereby the man 

 hiring slaves from another man had to agree not to feed those 

 slaves canvasback ducks more than twice a week. 



Being entirely without protection and facing such wholesale 

 slaughter it is no wonder to us that these birds have become scarce 

 even in that part of the country where formerly they were most 

 numerous. It is interesting as well as appalling to note the figures 

 in the latter records as for the season of 1880 when six hundred and 

 sixty-five canvasbacks were shot, and in 1901 in the same club only 

 one canvasback was shot during the whole season. All of us know 

 what it means when we compare the figures of 1846-47 with those 

 of 1880 and 1 901. However this situation is not as bad as it 

 seems for in the last few years the number of canvasbacks seen in 

 western New York and westward have shown an increase over 

 those seen in the early part of this century. This increase may be 

 due to the protection given them on their breeding grounds in 

 Canada. 



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