324 
VERTEBRATA. 
pay occasional visits or to make it tlieir regular residence during tlie winter. It occurs in some 
parts of the Hudson ; in the Delaware near Gloucester, a few miles below Philadelphia ; and in 
most of the rivers that fall into the Chesapeake, to each, of which particular places these ducks 
resort ; while in waters unprovided with this nutritive plant, they are altogether unknown. 
" On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehannah, near Havre-de-Grace, they are gen- 
erally lean; but such is the abundance of their favorite food that, toward the beginning of No- 
vember, they are in pretty good order. They are excellent divers, and swim with great speed and 
agility. They sometimes as- 
semble in such multitudes as to 
cover several acres of the river, 
and when they rise suddenly, 
produce a noise resembling 
thunder. They float about these 
shoals, diving and tearing up 
the grass by the roots, which is 
the only part they cat. They 
are extremely shy, and can 
rarely be approached, unless by 
strataQ;em. When wounded in 
the Mnng they dive to such pro- 
digious distances, and with such 
rapidity, continuing it so perse- 
veringly, and with such cunning 
and active vigor, as almost al- 
ways to render the pursuit hope- 
less. From the great demand 
for these ducks, and the high 
price they uniformly bring in 
market, various modes are practiced to get witbin gunshot of them. The most successful way 
is said to be decoying them to the shore by means of a dog, while the gunner lies closely con- 
cealed in a proper situation. The dog, if properly trained, plays backward and forward along the 
margin of the water; and the ducks, observing his maneuvers, enticed perhaps by curiosity, grad- 
ually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards of the spot 
where the gunner lies concealed, and from which he rakes them, first on the water, and then as 
they rise. This method is called tolling them in. If the ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glar- 
ing object, such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's middle, or to his tail ; and this 
rarely fails to attract them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman directs his skifi" toward a 
flock whose position he had previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting shadow of some 
wood, bank, or headland, and paddles along so silently and imperceptibly as often to approach 
within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of many thousands, among whom he generally makes 
great slaughter. 
" Many other stratagems are practiced, and, indeed, every plan that the ingenuity of the expe- 
rienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gunshot of these birds ; but of all the modes 
pursued, none intimidate them so much as shooting them by night ; and they soon abandon the 
place where they have been thus repeatedly shot at. During the day they are dispersed about; 
but toward evening collect in large flocks, and come into the mouths of creeks, where they often 
ride as at anchor, with their head under their wing, asleep, there being always sentinels awake 
ready to raise an alarm on the least appearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in 
small parties, the whole never go down at one time, but some are still left alone on the look-out. 
"When the winter sets in severely, and the river is frozen, the Canvas-Backs retreat to its 
confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air-holes in the ice, Avhich are sometimes made 
for the purpose, immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gunshot of the hut 
or bush, which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gunner lies concealed, ready 
THE AMERICAN SCAUP DUCK. (See p. 323.) 
