36 CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 
open day with a boat is unproductive labour, except there be 
floating ice in the river, at which time, if the shooter clothe 
himself in white, and paint his skiff of the same colour, he 
may so deceive the ducks as to get within a few feet of them. 
At such times it is reasonable to suppose that these valuable 
birds get no quarter. But there is one caution to be ob- 
served, which experienced sportsmen never omit: it is to go 
always with the current; a duck being sagacious enough to 
know that a lump of ice seldom advances agaznst the stream. 
They are often shot with us by moonlight in the mode re- 
lated in the foregoing account; the first pair the editor ever 
killed was in this manner; he was then a boy, and was not 
a little gratified with his uncommon acquisition. 
“ As the Valisineria will grow in all our fresh-water rivers, 
in coves or places not affected by the current, it would be 
worth the experiment to transplant this vegetable in those 
waters where it at present is unknown. ‘There is little doubt 
the canvas-backs would, by this means, be attracted; and 
thus would afford the lovers of good eating an opportunity of 
tasting a delicacy which, in the opinion of many, is unrivalled 
by the whole feathered race. 
“Tn the spring, when the duck-grass becomes scarce, the 
canvas-backs are compelled to subsist upon other food, parti- 
cularly shellfish ; their flesh then loses its delicacy of flavour, 
and, although still fat, it is not esteemed by epicures; hence 
the ducks are not much sought after, and are permitted 
quietly to feed until their departure for the north. 
“Our author states that he had no certain accounts of this 
species to the southward of James river, Virginia. In the 
month of January 1818, the editor saw many hundreds of 
these ducks feeding in the Savannah river, not far from 
Tybee lighthouse. ‘They were known by the name of canvas- 
backs; but the inhabitants of that quarter considered them as 
fishing-ducks, not fit to be eaten: so said the pilot of the 
ship which bore the editor to Savannah. But a pair of these 
birds having been served up at table after his arrival, he was 
