CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 



107 



a few of these ducks were seen, but they soon went away agam; 

 and for many years after, they contmued to be scarce ; and even 

 to the present day, in the opmion of my informant, have never 

 been so plenty as before. 



The Canvas-bach^ in the rich juicy tenderness of its flesh, and 

 its delicacy of flavor, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe in 

 this or perhaps any other quarter of the world. Those killed in 

 the waters of the Chesapeake are generally esteemed superior to 

 all others, doubtless from the great abundance of their favorite 

 food which these rivers produce. At our public dinners, hotels, 

 and particular entertainments, the Canvas-backs are universal fa- 

 vorites. They not only grace but dignify the table, and their very 

 name conveys to the imagination of the eager epicure the most 

 comfortable and exhilarating ideas. Hence on such occasions it 

 has not been uncommon to pay from one to three dollars a pair 

 for these ducks; and, indeed, at such times, if they can they must 

 be had, whatever may be the price. 



The Canvas-back will feed readily on grain, especially wheat, 

 and may be decoyed to particular places by baiting them with that 

 grain for several successive days. Some few years since a vessel 

 loaded with wheat was wrecked near the entrance of Great Egg 

 Harbour, in the autumn, and went to pieces. The wheat floated 

 out in vast quantities, and the whole surface of the bay was in a 

 few days covered with ducks of a kind altogether unknown to the 

 people of that quarter. The gunners of the neighbourhood col- 

 lected in boats, in every direction, shooting them, and so success- 

 ful were they, that, as Mr. Beasley informs me, two hundred and 

 forty were killed in one day, and sold among the neighbours, at 

 twelve and a half cents a piece, without the feathers. The wound- 

 ed ones were generally abandoned, as being too difficult to be 

 come up with. They continued about for three weeks, and dur- 

 ing the greater part of that time a continual cannonading was 

 heard from every quarter. The gunners called them Sea Dnchs. 



