42 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
or sitting flock. This, I should presume, had been the 
experience of most Duck shooters on the Chesapeake. 
The Red-head and Canvass-back are most accustomed to 
associate in feeding and flying, and nothing is more com- 
mon than to hear the whistle of the Bald-pate in a flock of 
some scores of the kinds just mentioned, which whistle, in 
a flying flock, is always dreaded by thegunner as indicative 
of an alarm in these watchful birds, which soon extends to 
the rest, and prevents the possibility of a close shot. 
The writer above alluded to, has named the species of 
Ducks usually found on the Chesapeake and its tributary 
streams; but as he has given different names for the same 
birds, it may mislead. For example, he speaks of the 
Widgeon and Bald Pate as two varieties, when they are 
the same species. It is the same with the Bull or Buffel 
head, and the Dipper; and the Coote or Surf Duck, I 
presume, to be one of his varieties of Black-head. He does 
not mention the little Ruddy Duck, or Heavy-tail, as it is 
called, although they abound in every nook and cove. 
The following is a correct table of the Ducks that are 
found on those waters: — 
Swan, ( Cygmis Americanus.) Goose, (Anas Cana- 
densis. .) Brant, (A. bernicla.) Canvass-back, (A. valisi- 
neria .) Red-head, (A .ferina.) Bald-pate, or Widgeon, 
(A. Americana.) Blue-bill, or Black-head, (A. marila . ) 
Scoter Duck, (A. nigra.) Tufted Duck, (A. fuligula, 
Wilson and Fuligula rufitorques, Bonaparte.) Blue- 
wing Teal, (A. discors.) Green do. do. (A. crecca.) 
Mallard, (A .boschas.) Black Duck, (A. obscura.) Buf- 
fel-head, Butter-box, or Dipper, (A. albeola.) Gadwall, 
or Grey Duck, (A . strepera.) Spoon-bill, or- Shoveller, 
(A. clypeata.) Sprig, or Pin-tail, (A. acuta.) Golden- 
eye, (A . clangula.) Velvet, or Channel Duck, (A .fusca,) 
Ruddy Duck, or Heavy-tail, (A. rubidus.) South South- 
erly, Long-tailed Duck, or Old Wives, (A. glacialis.) 
Surf Duck, (A. perspicillata.) Water Witch, or little 
Grebe, (Podiceps Carolinensis,) and the Horned Grebe, 
sometimes called Water Witch, (P. cornutus,) Goosander, 
(Mekgus merganser,) and the Red-breasted Merganser, 
Hairy-crown, or Fisherman, (M. serrator.) 
I will close my strictures on the Register corres- 
pondent, and give the result of a few days shooting on 
the Chesapeake, last fall, by a party of four gentlemen, of 
which I was one. We were landed on our Point, from the 
Port Deposit steam boat, at 2 P. M. Weather cool; little 
wind, and that favourable; a small flight— 
By dark the game was ^ 18 Canvass-backs and Red-heads. 
3d day — wind and weather fair, 
flight pretty good, - 53 do. do. do. etc. 
3d day — sultry — not a breath of air, 
and a poor flight, - 51 do. do. do. 
4th day — same weather, flight -Cl Swan. 
still less - - - £ 38 Canvass-back, etc. 
5th day, till 9 A. M. — weather and 
flight good, - - 39 do. do. 
201 
Of this number, there were, 2 Swans — 92 Canvass-backs — 86 Red- 
necks — 13 Black-heads — 4 Buffel-heads — 1 Golden-eye — 1 Black Duck— 
1 Mallard, and 1 Fisherman. 
I do not give this statement as great success; but it was 
good, — considering the space of time, — that all were shot 
on the wing, from the points, — and that during two days 
every thing was unfavourable, and exactly that combina- 
tion of circumstances that would prevent a resident on the 
Bay from even loading his gun. 
Being a thorough Sportsman yourself, Mr. Editor, you 
are fully aware that the pleasure of such amusements does 
not depend solely upon the quantity of game bagged; for 
if so, the toling, or skiffing shots, procuring more birds, 
would consequently produce more delight. But that mur- 
derous mode being deficient in the great cause of plea- 
sure, excitement, it is rarely practised by the real Sports- 
man. Any person, who can hold a gun to his shoulder, can 
kill Ducks on the water; but to strike them at 60 or 80 
yards distance, when flying at the rate of 87 feet in a second 
of time, requires a dexterity in the use of the gun that 
every man cannot boast of; and to do with even compara- 
tive certainty, what few can attain to, is a pleasure that the 
indolent toler cannot conceive. 
To have a shot, occasionally, even without killing, is an 
agreeable mode of passing a certain time, somewhat like 
Dr. Franklin’s nibbling fisherman; for you have leisure 
to calculate the value of your gun, the range of your shot, 
and your deficiencies, preparatory to the next bird. But 
when you have a good point, — fine weather, — fair wind, — 
handsome flight, — industrious dog, — trusty gun, — genuine 
Pigou or Dupont, — Sparkes’ single B., and a friend to 
praise a good and excuse a bad shot, — no man can 
want a doctor, or, for the time, an additional pleasure in 
the world. I. T. S. 
DEER HUNTING. 
The different modes of destroying Deer are probably 
too well understood, and too successfully practised, in the 
United States; for, notwithstanding the almost incredible 
abundance of these beautiful animals in our forests and 
prairies, such havoc is carried on amongst them, that, in a 
few centuries, they will probable be as scarce in America, 
as the Great Bustard now is in Britain. 
