06 
FOREST AND_ STREAM. 
Notice. 
All communications intended for Forest amd STHiiAM should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to ajiy itidividual connected with the paper. 
Proprietors ot shooting resorts will find it profitable to advertise 
ccem in Forest and Stkbam, 
American Wildfowl and How to 
Take Them* — ^XVI. 
BY GEORGE BIRD GMNNELL. 
\Conlinved from page 492,] 
Caavasback Dock, 
Aythya valUsneria (Wils.)- 
The adult male has the top of the head and the feathers 
immediately about the base of the bill and chin black; 
tlie rest of head and neck are reddish-brown, what 
would be called in a horse, mahogany bay. The lower 
neck, fore-back, and breast/ black. The back, lower 
. breast and belly, white, very finely waved with black 
bars; whence the name, canvasback. Primaries, black. 
. :The tail, black, with- a grayish cast; bill, black; iris, red; 
feet, lead color. 
The female has those parts Avhich in the male are red, 
. brown and -black, wood-brown, with touches of whitish 
- behind the eye, and on the fore-neck. The plumage 
- generally, is grayish-brown, the tips of the feathers 
often being whitish, and vermiculated with dusky. The 
length is 20 to 22 inches. 
Of all the American ducks, the canvasback is easily 
the most famous. Its flesh depends for its flavor en- 
. , tirely on the food that the bird eats, and since for many 
years it was chiefly killed where the so-called wild celery 
/ abounds, the reputation of the canvasback was made by 
. 'the individuals that fed on this grass. 
As a matter of fact, it may be doubted \vhether in 
waters where this plant is abundant the canvasback is 
any better than some of its fellows of the duck tribe, 
such as the redhead or the widgeon, which subsist largely 
on the same food. But the fame of the canvasback is 
how too finnly established ever to be shaken, and it will 
continue to be regarded, as it has so long been, as the 
king of our ducks. 
The canvasback is an American species, and has not 
even any close relatives in the Old World.. In winter it 
ranges south as far as Central America, but confines it- 
self to no portion of the country, being equally abundant 
on both coasts, and in the interior as well. I have killed 
it on the Atlantic coast, as well as in Southern Cali- 
fornia; and during the migrations it is abundant in. 
Montana, and generally- throughout the interior. 
^ Years ago the canvasback bred in the Northern United 
States, toward the west, probably in Minnesota, certainly 
in Dakota and Montana, but, as with so many other 
species, the settling up of the northern country has 
' destroyed its breeding grounds, and it now, for the most 
• part, passes far to the northward to breed. Dr. Dall 
, found it breeding at Fort Yukon, in Alaska. Mr. Ross 
met with it on Great Slave Lake; and other northern 
observers have detected it throughout the fur countries. 
B,esideS| this, Captain Bcndire found it breeding in 
■Oregon, and Dr. Newberry believed that he had ob- 
, tained evidence of its nesting- in the Cascade range. 
The nest of the canvasback is large and well built, and 
is lined with down and feathers, plucked from the breast 
of the mother bird. The eggs are grayish-green in colo'- 
and number from seven to nine. 
On their return from the North the canvasbacks reach 
the United States late in October or early in November. 
They are hardy birds, and it seems that it takes cold 
weather to drive them southward. On the New England 
coast they are very rare, though a few used to be killed 
there. On Long Island they scarcely ever occur of late 
years, iior are they found in great numbers on the Vii"- 
ginia ' coast. In North Carolina, however, and along 
the open broad waters which fringe that State and South 
Carolina, canvasbacks are very abundant. They used 
. to be so, also, in the Chesapeake Bay, but continual 
gunning and the destruction of their feeding grounds 
, by frequent floods, which kill the plants on which they 
subsist, have , made them there much less abundant than 
they used to be. The shooting grounds in Chesapeake 
Bay' and Susquehanna Flats, which a few years ago 
afTorded such good gunning that they were loought or 
rented at fabulous prices, are no longer so much fre- 
.quented by the birds, and have become much kss 
valuable. 
Like many others of our game birds, the canvasback 
during the last few years has learned a good deal. Al- 
ways a shy and wary bird and diifictHit of approach, it 
has learned to avoid the shores, and perhaps is grad- 
ually learning to avoid the bush-blind. As its diving- 
powers are great and it is not obliged to fly over the 
land to get to its feeding grounds, it spends its time in 
great rafts, on the shallow open waters of such sounds 
as Currituck, Pamlico, Core and Albemarle, feeding safe 
from d^^.nger, and during the morning and evening hours 
laking^ts exercise by flying great distances ixp and down 
the sounds, high in air, far above the reach of any gun. 
• It is only in dull and rainy weather, when the wind blows 
hard, that the canvasbacks come in from the open water 
to seek the shelter of a lee of the mar.sh, but when such 
weather comes and the gunner is properly located, the 
canvasbacks will come to his decoys as readily as any 
other ducks, In the same way, when— as happens usually 
at least once each year — a cold snap closes the waters 
of the sound, leaving only a few air holes, where warm 
springs or swiftly .moving currents keep the waters open, 
the- cauA'asback and other fowl resorting to these open 
spots may be killed in great numbers. On such an 
occasion, in January, 1900, I saw canvasbacks in num- 
bers greater than I ever beheld before. An account of 
this flight, published in Forest and Stream, is as fol- 
lows: 
"I have recently had an opportunity of being brought 
into what I may call dose ftsSociatlop With the' greatei^it 
of all the wildfowl, the superb canvasback duck, and 
within the last ten, days have seen more of these birds 
and at close quarters than during any season for many 
.v^ears. The locality was Currituck Sovuid, and the sights 
that I saw were witnessed by several others, old gunners, 
who agree with me that so great a flight of canvasbacks 
has not been witnessed for many years. 
"The first few days of shooting had jibuut it nothing 
very startling except that one-half the bag of ducks 
consisted of canvasbacks. The first day was cold, gray 
and lowering, with a keen breeze fi-oin the northwest, 
and occasional spatters of rain, chan^iiig later to snow, 
which in the afternoon fell heavily. It s^a.s an ideal 
gunning day, and the birds came to the decoys in. beau- 
tiful style, so that the first seven or eight canvasbacks 
were killed without a single miss, and for a brief and 
happy hour 1 was deluded into the belief that at last 
I had learned how to shoot ducks. The rude awakening 
from this cheerful dream came soon afterward, and was 
thorough. I do not imagine that I shall ever again be 
deceived in this way. 
"The; second day's shooting, iW^s n,6t markedly dif?er- 
ent from that 'of thfe- day b'^ore, except so far as the 
weather was less favorable, and so the number of can- 
vasbacks secured was very m\\i:h less.. Saturday was a 
lay day, on which there is ho shooting, and when we 
arose we ioimd thnt the continued, cold weather had at 
last had its effect and. the sound was fro/en over. There 
were many large air holes, however., crowded w'ith birds, 
but the Qold cqntinued. The lie??}: niQrhing liiany of 
these air holes had frozen, QtHers had' gi-<nvn sinaller 
and the natural result, w-as that the ducks,' geese, swans, 
and bluepeters which' occupied the open vvater seemed 
crowded together as thickly, as possible.' Much.', of the 
day .was spent on .top of the, club hou.se, studying the 
waters with the glasses, watching; the .riiovements Of the 
CANVASBACK DUCK. 
birds, marveling at their inconceivable numbers. All 
around the horizon, except on the lahd,ward side — that 
is to say, for 270 degrees oi the circle — birds were seen 
in countless numbers. Ttrrning the glasses slowly along 
the horizon from northwest to north, east, soutl; and 
southwest, there was no ■"rtipment at- 'which clouds of 
flying fowl could not be sedn in the field of sight, and 
yet, notwithstanding, th^ numbers of birds seen on the 
wing, the air holes se,emed to be packed with fowl, and 
great bunches of geese and swan stood and walked about 
on the ice. . 
".'Vway to the north were three large air holes, two of 
which were white with canvasbacK's. while in the third- 
one, geese were the prominent fowl, although many 
canvasbacks wfere constantly leaving and coming to it. 
Off to the soUtlieast, at the south mouth of the. Little.. 
Narrows, was quite an extent of open water occupied 
by a horde of geese, two large bunches of bluepeters 
and some thousands of common ducks. In the Little 
Narrows, a deep but narrow channel flowing close by 
the house, were great numbers of ducks feeding, ,^nd in- 
deed on that Sunday one might have sat on the boat- 
house dock and killed from thirty to .fifty birds as they 
traded up and down the Narrows. 
"In the afternoon three or four of us walked down to 
Sheep Island Point, not ten minutes' distance from the 
house, where there was an air hole. In this at the 
moment of our arrival swam fifty or sixty ducks — 
hooded mergansers, ruddies,' mallards, whistlers, butter- 
balls and perhaps a' dozen canvasbacks. Three or four 
hundred yards to the north was another smalLair hole, 
perhaps four Or five acres in extent, which was crowded 
with, canvasbacks. 'We sat down in the fringe of sedge 
about 60 or 70 yards " from the nearest ait hole, which - 
had a length of perhaps 15b feet and a breadth of 100. . 
The live birds .in this air hole would make good decoys, 
and we hoped that if the fowl began to fly some of them 
would alight near u.s. Two of the foil r men were pro- 
vided with good field glasses. - 
■'We had not been waiting many 'rhinutes, when what 
we had hoped for took place. A bunch; of 200 birds rose 
from the further ' air hole, and after swinging about a 
few times, dropped down in the one close to us. These 
were immediately followed by other bunches, and these 
by others; so that often two or three flocks would be 
swinging about in the air at one time, and all of them 
with our air hole as their objective •point. : They de- 
scended into it- by companies of fifties,' ' hundred's and 
tw-o hundreds, and^ before long' the open Avater was so 
crowded with the fowl that if seemcd'.as if it could hold 
no more, and as if the birds that came next must neccr- 
sarily alight on the backs Of their coihrades. 
■'Soon after the birds alighted they began to dive for 
food, rind, probably one-half of them b-eing under water 
at any one -m^oment, room was made for other incom- 
ing birds to occupy. The SDlashfng df-the diving ducks 
m.ade the water bubble and boil, and'^ the play of the 
birds as they sometimes chased each other made the 
scene one of the greatest possible animation. Presentl v 
something occurred to attract their attention, and ill , 
stretched theirr necks up into th^ air and looked. , f 
think I have never seen anvthin,g in the "way of feathered 
animal life mpi^e impressive than this forest of thick 
nef:ky, crovviitd by long,- ^Iiaptly of rich browUi 
After their ouiriti.sity was satishecl they began again to 
feed Hiid to play. It is impossible tp convey to one 
who has not witnessed such a sight its interest and 
fascmation, Here within gunshot — and when seen 
through the glasses appearing within .irnr's length — ■ 
■were twelve or fifteen hundred of the finest and most 
desirable ductc that flies, entirely at home and living 
for the benefit of the observers their ordinary winter 
lives. 
"l.uoking with the glasses over the smooth ice a:vvay 
to the northward, we could see flying over the ice, or 
resting on it, fowl as far as the eye could reach. From 
. the level of the ice where we sat, the ducks, resting on 
the water, appeared only as indistinct lines. The' geese 
were, of course, larger and darker, and made distinct 
black lines; while some very distant swans, resting on 
the ice, were magnified by the illusive effects of the mi- 
rage, so that they looked like detached white houses. 
While we sat watching the canvasbacks, two or three 
small flocks of geese swung around over the air hole, 
but finding no .spot where they might moisten the soles 
of their feet, they alighted on the ice just be}rond it. 
'■We_ sat and watched the fowl until the increasing 
chill of the air and the sinking sun warned us to return 
to the house. As we rose without any precautions the 
canvasbacks at once became alert, •a:nd as We pushed 
our .way among the reeds awa/ from the shore the 
whole mass rose with a mighty roar of wings and a 
splashing, of water that inade-'one think more of the 
'noise of Broadway when traffic is heaviest than any- 
thing else that I can recall. ••' • ' 
"That night it was again cold; and in the mOrning the 
Little Narrows was closed by ice, except for a few air 
holes, and the open w^ater in the sound was still less. 
The ice was not yet sufficiently strong to' bear a man, 
and yet it was too heavy to be broken through by a boat. 
Numbers of the shore gunners endeavored to get out to 
the air holes to shoot there, but nonej I' think* suc- 
ceeded. Those of us at the house shot at various nearby 
points, with moderate, success, one man- making the 
great score of sixty-si-x cianvasbacks, besides some 
other ducks. . ' • 
' That night after dinner one ot the pai-ty stepped out 
on the porch of the house to look at the weather: The 
night was clear and cold, brilliant stars twinkled in the 
sky; through the branch e's of the- trees oyer the^ boat- 
house corner, and reflected in -the placid waters of an 
air hole in the Narrows, shone the crescent of the young 
moon, embracing between' its horns the dull globe which 
was yet to grow. The scene was odd and beautiful, like 
a stage efl-'ect of some mediaeval scene. As he stood 
there, delighting in the beauty of the night,' yet nipped 
a little by the keen fro.st, a teurious sound— like that 
made by a river rutin it-:g over the pebbles of a shallow— 
came to his ear. It recalled to the veteran salmon 
angler the murmur of the Ristigdu'che as though forest 
and- open and deep' pioot and murmuring shoal it hurries 
on it way to the Bay of Chaleurs. He wondered wdiat 
could cause this sound in this place, and above all on 
such a night, and, walking down to the boat house, 
passed through it and stood on the dock. Here the ex- 
planation of the sound was plain. The air holes which 
during the d:iy had onlarg-cd «rc-rc i.ruvvilci.1 Willi leedmg 
canvasbacks, and the murmur of the water w^is neither 
more nor less than the splashing made by the fowl as 
they dived for food, ' ' 
"The freeze lasted for some days longer. The bir(3s 
were' abundant; but the weather, clear, windless and 
toward the last warm, was much against the gunning, 
since the fowl did not fly. Nevertheless one or two men 
at dififerent rimes had good shooting— some of them 
better than they had ever enjoyed before br expect ever 
to have again. This shooting was largely at canvas- 
backs, since very few common ducks were shot. The 
freeze having closed their "•'feeding' ground's, they sat 
about on the ice, unwarj^ and inert, waiting till the 
waters should open again, and in the meantime starv- 
ing. Under such circumstances no one cared to kiU 
them. On the other hand,' the canvasbacks taken, were 
unusually heavy and fine birds. 
"Across the sound, on the "waters of a neighboring 
club, very great shooting was enjoyed, though they se- 
cured practically no canvasbacks. On the other hand, 
they made enormous bags of gee'se and swans, some- 
thing which no one can regret, .since the geese and the 
swans at Currituck Sound are so numerous that they 
eat up vast quantities of- the food which might better be 
consumed by the ducks. 'Thei-e are men long familiar 
with these waters who declare that the geese and the 
swans a,re constantly becoming more and more abun- 
dant and that tiltinlately they will occupy these waters 
to the. exclusion of more desirable fowl This, however, 
is not likely to occur in otir time, and the prophecy may 
be. cla.ssed with another, m'ade twenty" years a:go by one 
of the most eminent orithologists of this country, who 
declared that fifteen years from that time the bluepeter 
would be the game bird of Currituck Sound. The years 
have come and the years have gone, but there are still 
a few canvasbacks left, and "it is possible that when our 
children tie out in Chrrittick Sound in just the right 
weather they, too, may kill' a few of these glorious 
birds." 
The food of the canvasbacf^, from which it takes its 
specific name, and to which.it owes its delicious flavor, 
is the so-called wild celery, which' is really a water grass, 
It grows both in fresh and brackish water, and is com- 
nton at various points along the sea coast, but also in the 
fresh waters of the interior. 
This plant, hkc many others, "has a variety of , dififer- 
ent names. Some of the most common used in differ- 
ent localities are "tape grass,'' from the tape-like ap- 
pearance of the long leaves; " "channel weed," as it fre- 
quently grows in channels where the water flows, not 
swiftly; "eel grass" — this name arises, it is said by Dr. 
Darlington, from the habit Avhich eels have of hiding 
under the leaves, which are usually procumbently float- 
ing under the water's surface. The appellation "wild 
celery," a local term, applied originally perhaps only by 
gunners and . watermen at Havre de .Grace and vicinity, 
is, like many vulgar synonyms, a misnomer, as this 
plant is in no particular related, to celery, which by 
botanists is known as Apiuin. Wild cei.er.y, .or, as it is 
