April 2, 1898.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
26 6 
There was a stiff breeze from the eastward, and it 
rained. 1 ' ; 
"Good day for ducks," mentioned Peggy, with a sad, 
sweet smile; "got the weather how, and all we need 's 
the ducks." 
Without disaster we climbed aboard the shoe-box, 
and Peggy set the sail. It was somewhat larger than 
a pocket handkerchief, and somewhat smaller than a 
napkin. But under its pressure the sneak-box bent 
down to the washboards, and her forefoot discoursed 
music like unto wash day in a Harlem flat. 
"Pretty safe boat, though," said Peggy; "never tip 
up, either, 'less you don't know to sail it. Guess she'll 
stand it. Pretty hard blow this, though." 
Having thus considerately relieved my feelings, Peggy 
aniused himself by calling vast but imaginary flocks of 
geese. 
"Hong-gee-ee!" clacked Peggy, with a deftness and 
verisimilitude marvelous to hear. 
"Ever hear a broadbill?" asked Peggy, evidently 
pleased; "so-tut-tt-t, tut-tt-t, tut-tt-t. Here's a black 
duck— keck-eck, qualc-kk-k." 
"Splendid, Peggy; can you call a moose, maybe?" 
Peggy guessed he couldn't, so the man that had called 
a moose and was now seeking ducks called moose for 
Peggy, until Peggy desired to learn whether the man 
was not feeling well. 
"Oh, yes, Peggy; feeling fine; but that's the way 
the moose call."' 
"Mebbe," said Peggy, and that was all; so to relieve 
his feelings Peggy called more geese, and broadbills 
and black ducks, and the portable bathtub stood down 
the creek and gallantly breasted the waves that poured 
occasionally down the duck hunter's spine; wherefore, 
in the course of time, the sneak-box came to a point, 
and Peggy put her nose ashore. 
"Here she goes," said he, handing out the guns and 
the lunch and the shells; "we'll shoot from here, .1 
guess." 
Peggy guessed wrong, but that comes later on. Hav- 
ing gjit out his decoys, he stood down the beach, hid 
the sneak-box under a mud bank, and then we demol- 
ished a haystack, seeking materials for a blind. 
"Now," said Peggy, snuggling down into the blinds, 
"come on with your ducks." 
Of? the point the decoys swished over the seas, fight 
as a feather and so lifelike that even a market hunter 
would have been deceived. On the outskirts of the 
cedar fleet two big brant decoys bobbed merrily up 
and down, and Peggy watched them with much pride. 
"Great Ijrant, those," said he; "look more like brant 
than the genuine article. Ain't much chance for brant, 
though. They're all on the beach and the flats." 
As if in response, we saw far off in the gathering 
light a dusky blur upon the horizon. It arose like a 
cloud of smoke and strayed down the wind, dissolving 
at length into the bay. 
"Brant," said Peggy; "drat 'em." 
Presently Peggy spied a duck. It was coming for the 
decoys — a broadbill looking for company. Peggy began 
to clatter "tut-tt-t!" like one possessed, whereupon the 
broadbill went elsewhere. Here Peggy said things not 
necessary for publication, and a large flight of other 
ducks skimmed by out in the middle of the bay. 
The hours passed; the clouds dissolved, and the sun 
crept up into a mellow sky; also '^he wind went down, 
and occasional ducks went bj^ always out of range. 
"A fellow killed a snipe on the meadow j'esterday," 
said Peggy, despondently; "let's see whether there's any 
more." 
We walked four miles over the meadows, and there 
were no snipe. Then we returned to the decoys, and 
Peggy pulled them aboard. Standing southward, we 
came unto a blind, and Peggy ran the box ashore. Ten 
minutes later Peggy had out the decoys again, and in 
the absence of other excitement Ave toyed with innu- 
merable sandwiches, certain chunks of roast fowl and 
indescribable segments of mysterious prune pie. 
We toyed with that pie through six mortal hours, 
and with vagrant eye roamed the horizon in search of 
ducks. We saw them, hundreds and hundreds, and also 
hundreds of yards out upon the water. Then when new 
ducks failed to excite interest or comment a solitary 
broadbill wandered in to the beach. 
"Sshsh!" whispered Peggy _; "here comes a duck!" 
The broadbill was swimming. It dived occasionally, 
and then it saw the decoys. Thrusting back its head, 
it journeyed up to the decoys. 
"Now!" cried Peggy, jumping up. 
The broadbill looked alarmed. It began to swim into 
the distance. . , 
"Shoot!" cried Peggy, "shoot!" 
"Never, Peggy! Not at a swimming duck. How could 
you?" 
Bang! The duck had arisen. It was still arising. 
Bang! It kept on rising like a feathered yeast cake. 
Bang! bang! said Peggy's gun; but it was just the 
same to the duck. It circled around the decoys and 
■came back again. Bang! bang! went the guns, and 
the duck sat down upon the water. Here it took to div- 
ing frantically, with Peggy shooting every time it dived, 
Peggj' got tired of this after awhile, and so did the 
duck. 
So we gathered up the shells and the remnants of 
the prune pie, and returned to the sneak-box. Hoist- 
ing sail, we stood back to Forked River, and a large 
and aromatic supper. 
"Drat that duck!" said Peggy. 
If you desire ducks, go down to Forked River. Go 
early and stay late. Don't take a gun. Take a field 
glass and a telescope. If the ducks are out of range of 
the field glass use the telescope; it will keep you busy. 
There are more ducks that have never been shot in Bar- 
negat Bay than in any other part of New Jersey. And 
if you desire to shoot, invite the lawyer who told me 
about them. No Jersey jury would convict you of man- 
sla.ughter, and in all probability a large and suffering 
community will rise up and honor you, speaking in the 
name of the public and worshipful to a degree 
That's all. 
A Paper for the Home. 
A Salem, G.. subscriber writes: "The Forest Ajfti Stxeam 
is a paper which I always look forward to; and while my wife 
is not so enthusiastic a sportsman as myself she enj#y| it too, It 
IS p'pap 3Prfl fit for any gentleman'* tabje," . .r . 
Reminiscences of an Old 
Sportsman,— XL 
My Private Covers, 
What sportsman who has had much experience has 
not discovered at least one El Dorado where, accofding 
to his best belief, other sportsmen have never been — 
where game is plentiful and confiding, and all the 
surroundings are in perfect harmony, making the se- 
cluded spot an ideal Arcadia that causes him to hug 
himself in delight at the good fortune that has come to 
him? How he gloats over the enticing alluremtnts 
that gladden his eyes as they rove from the emerald 
that is spread with lavish hand among the alders that 
grow so luxuriantly along the little brook to the gen- 
tle birch-covered slopes that trend with graceful Undit- 
lations toward the irii^riting and gamy-looking copse that 
borders the larger growth of woods beyond. How his 
heart swells with pleasurable emotions as he gazes upon 
the beautiful picture spread before him, and as he treads 
with buoyant step the springy turf beneath the alders, 
and wanders among the white-armed birches, or threads 
his way through the dense copse, greeted at nearly every 
turn with the querulous whistle of startled woodcock or 
thunderous roar of swift-winged grouse, his whole being- 
is filled with an ecstacy that words cannot portray. Our 
fortunate friend may have stumbled into this bonanza, 
or perhaps he finds it by persistent search that has 
taken him over hundreds or thousands of acre's of corA- 
paratively barren ground, at the cost of many days, and 
many a fatiguing tramp. If he has found it without 
much trouble, he may well bless his lucky stars; but if 
the find is the result of systematic and long:-continued 
search, it is with greatly enhanced pleasure and pride 
that he surveys the- rich domain now all his oWn. How 
he gloats over the beauties of his newly found treasure, 
and revels in thoughts of the wealth of Sport that awaits 
him here when in his own good time he shall revisit the 
spot. 
Many such places have come to me, but in a very 
large majority of cases accident had no share in their 
discovery, as I was ever searching for new grounds, in 
hopes to find something better than those I knew. Not 
that birds were scarce, or that fault could be found with 
the covers, but there was something in my nature that 
led me on, and I was never so happy as when, in ex- 
ploring new grotmds, I came upon something in the 
way of game or country that approached my ideal. 
In the early days of my shooting there were several 
excellent covers in the town of Ashford, Conn., that 
I often visited, and nearly always found an abiuidance 
of birds. These covers I had worked hard to find, and 
had tramped over a large extent of comparatively barren 
country, finding an ideal run or bit of birch cover oc- 
casionally, just enough to lead me on, until I had 
found sufficient to give me all I could attend to in one 
day. 
I was once driving to this locality, and had only a 
short distance further to go when, as I was passing 
a house, the farmer came out and hailed me and asked 
me why I never hunted the cover just below, telling 
me that there were lots of snipe (woodcock) there. I 
had passed by the. bit of swamp that he mentioned 
a score of times, but had never given it thought so far 
as game was concerned, for a more uninviting-looking 
spot it would be hard to find. The ground was very 
low, and it was more than half covered with stagnant 
pools of greenish-looking water, while rather a sparse 
growth of pin oak and button-ball bushes completed 
the pictui'e. Thinking that the man had seen a bird or 
two there in the summer, I was about to say something 
of the kind and drive on; but the evident sincerity with 
which he had spoken influenced me to give it a try, so 
I got out of the wagon, and hitching my horse I invited 
him to accompany me. Accepting the invitation with 
evident pleasure, we were soon at the swamp, and I sent 
the dog in ; but before he had gone loft. he straightened 
out on point. 
I shall never forget the expression that came over the 
old fellow's countenance when the dog stiffened; his 
mouth came w^de open and his eyes bulged out while 
he partly crouched down as though he were backing the 
point. When I put up the woodcock and killed it the 
old man broke shot, and the manner in which he floun- 
dered through the mud and over the bogs beat anything 
of the kind that I ever saw. In fact, I was so worked 
up that I never thought to shoot at either of the three 
others that he flushed in his wild scramble, but just stood 
there and laughed until I was about used up. The bird 
was only winged, and gave him quite a lively time, but 
finally he grabbed it and brought it in, and such a look- 
ing man I never saw before; he was covered with mud 
and green slime from the crown of his hat to the soles 
of his feet, but the old fellow Avas happy, and as he 
handed me the bird he rolled a bit of the swamp mud 
around in his mouth, and spitting it out exclaimed: "I 
hain't had so much fun since I fell off the haystack." Of 
course I was anxious to hear about this performance, and 
in response to my request for the story he gave me this. 
"You see, we had company from York — my wife's 
brother and his wife and three gals. Sam and his wife 
were our sort of folks', but the gals were too highfalutin 
for me. They didn't like country life nor country folk, 
and took a good deal of pains to show it. dressing up 
every day in white dresses and ribbon fixin's, until they 
made me sick; and then the way they held up their 
skirts and walked tiptoe round the yard, as though the 
ground wa'n't good enough for them to walk on, or as 
I told Lucy — that's my wife — ^just as though they were 
afraid of stepping on something. After thev had been 
here three or four, days I was topping off 'a stack of 
hay by the corner of the barn, and as it was getting close 
on to sundown, -Sam went for the cows while I finished 
the stack. When. I had got about through, Dora— that's 
the oldest gal— <ame tiptoeing along, and old Suke — 
that's our old pet muley cow—^saw her. and thought 
that it was Lucy going to give her some salt; so she 
swished her tail round in a circle and give a bellow and 
started for her full chisel. Dora saw her and dodged 
)?e^in4 the s|t^elc, ^r^i I leaned oyer j:o see the fm, wh&n 
my foot slipped and I came down kerwallup within 2ft. 
of Dora, flat on my back. She thought it was the cow, 
and land sakes alive! how she did holler and get away 
from there. She scooted straight for the barnyard, 
screeching at every jump, and she didn't go tiptoe either, 
nor hold up her skirts, but just pulled foot the best she 
knew. I had kinder got straightened up on one knee, 
and to save my life I couldn't get up any further, so 
I just stayed there and laughed fit to bu'st, but the best 
fun came when .she struck the soft spot in the middle' of 
the barnyard; her feet stuck in the mud, but she kept 
riglit on and went kerslap into the mud and rolled over 
and over and stepped on herself and hollered and then 
tolled over again; and you just ought to have seen 
that white dress and those pink stockings; they looked 
.a;3 though enough stijff. stuck to them to manure twenty 
hills 'of corti. I think I must have gone off in a fit or 
something,, for I didn't see. the rest of the performance, 
and when I got up oii my feet she .and Julia— that's the 
second gal— were just going into the house. The gals 
were as mad as wet hens at me, but Sam and Mary— 
that's his .wife— both said that a man that wouldn't laugh 
at, such a scrape had better sell out and quit business." 
.The .style in which he told the tale, and the gestures 
With which he embellished it, were about as mirth-pro- 
voking as the tale itself, to say nothing of his personal 
appearance as he stood there in his mud- and slime-be- 
draggled garments;, but the old fellow was happy, an'A 
.appeared to be enjoying himsejf, if one could judge 
by the stlappin'g of his eyes and the twitchings about the 
corners of his lYiouth, After we had takeli time to cool 
off I again sent on. the dog, and in that small patch of 
uninviting swamp I shpt seven woodcock, every one 
of which the old man gathered; but he did not add much 
to the mud on his clothes, as there was not room for it. 
For seyei-al years I shot out this cover a number of 
times each seagon, always finding- from three tO- ten 
bn-ds, and .once, in late . October, after a heavy frost 
that froze the ground solid. I. brought fourteen to .bag. 
Why the woodcock should visit this place, or stop there 
after coming, is more than I can tell; but they evidently 
liked the spot, and had frequented it for many years, -as 
the farmer tolil jiie that he had often seen them there- 
when he was a boy. Many times since then have I' 
investigated such places when I have been exploring new 
grounds, but have neVer found one since that held birds, 
although I have often stumbled on very unlikely-looking' 
places where birds were nearly always to be found in 
proper season. . ' 1 . J- 1 j : 
I once followed a wild old cock grouse well into the 
depths of a large tract of heavy timber, and as I came 
to the summit of a knoll where the ground was some- 
what depressed and showed evidence that water stood 
there in a wet time, my dog came to a point, and as I 
approached him a woodcock rose. At the report of the 
gun seven others flushed, all of theni Iving in a spot 
not more than rsft. across. After I had gathered them 
in I took my bearings so that I could find the place 
again, and a few days later I revisited the spot and 
found five more. For many years I visited this place a 
number of times each season, and always found birds 
there. Now this place was half a mile from open ground, 
and more than a mile from any other woodcock cover, 
and I am still wondering how the birds could find the 
place, as I invariably made a clean sweep of those I 
found, so that none were left for guides. A friend that 
often visited the spot with me was strong in the belief 
that the birds cottld smell the moist place, for they cer- 
tainly could not see it, and as I had no better reason to 
give I was forced to admit that there was at least a 
probability that this was the true solution of the problem.' 
One of the most singular places to find woodcock was 
discovered by me while I was on an expedition for 
whortleberries. This was no less, than a cone-shaped 
knoll containing about an acre of ground, with its sum- 
mit some 2oft. above the surrounding ground, and com- 
pletely covered with whortleberry bushes and rocks, 
with no tree or other bush upon its entire surface. While 
picking berries I flushed a woodcock, and soon after 
another one rose, but I gave the matter little attention, 
only thinking that this was a queer place for them, A 
Tew days later I was again on the knoll", when, greatly 
to my surprise, I flushed another bird, and as I had 
become somewhat interested, I made a thorough inves- 
tigation of the place and put up three more. When 
the game .reason opened, some two weeks later, I made 
an early visit to the knoll for the purpose of finding out if 
this was a regular resort for them, or, as I believed to be 
the case, it was only an accidental happening that I had 
found them. Greatly to my surprise, 1 found two bi^ds 
there, and as the place was but a short distance f~om 
noted grouse covers I- was often in the vicinity, 
and never failed to find from one to five wood- 
cock on this almost barren knoll, and in the 
many years that I knew it I have no doubt that I shot 
in this place more than 200 woodcock. I never visited 
the spot without speculating upon the reason that should 
induce the birds to seek such a place to lie in through 
the day, for there was absolutely nothing, so far as T 
could see. that .should call them there. The ground 
was dry as an ash heap; there was no shade, while the 
tangled growth of whortleberry bushes made it almost 
impossible for them to walk around; in fact, so far as 
I could see, there was not a single desirable feature that 
could induce these fastidious lovers of shade and moist- 
ure to make Of this barren spot a favorite haunt, and the 
only conclusion that I could arrive at was that I was 
a poor, weak mortal with not wit enough to fathom the 
reason that governed the coming and going of a bird 
that I had heretofore prided myself no little that I was 
thoroughly acquainted with all its mysterious -ways: 
I was here with a friend .who often shot with me, 
and as we went to the dog as he was pointin.g I caught 
sight of the woodcock sofne 15ft. away, sitting in ah 
open place, and pointed it out to my companion. While 
we were lookiiig 'at it one of the small yellow .butterflies 
so common alighted on a weed within a few ihe^ies of 
the woodcoqk's head, when with a quick motion that 
I had not thought the bird capable of making it 'seized 
the butterfly -with its bill and swallowed it. . "There," exi- 
claimed my companion, "the vexed question"^ is' settled, 
and you can- now sleep njghts; the woodcock com^ to 
fpj^k^n^pot for })m&rfiiQs'' • §mww-' [ 
