492 
FOREST AND STREAM 
September, 1920 
A MANUAL OF WILD FOWL SHOOTING 
PART EIGHT OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES DESCRIBING THE TRAITS, CHARACTERISTICS 
AND METHODS OF HUNTING OUR WATERFOWL — RIVER DUCK SHOOTING 
By FREDERICK A WILLITS 
I N the preceding chapters we have re- 
viewed the swans, the geese, the sea- 
ducks and the mergansers. Our at- 
tention now turns to the ducks remain- 
ing, known as the river-ducks. 
There are in the check-list of the 
American Ornithological Union fourteen 
river-ducks: The mallard, dusky duck, 
Florida dusky duck, mottled duck, pin- 
tail duck, widgeon, European widgeon, 
blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, cin- 
namon teal, European teal, wood duck, 
gadwall and shoveler. The Florida 
dusky duck and the mottled duck are 
very similar to the common dusky or 
black duck and all three birds may be 
considered one and the same from the 
sportsman’s point of view. The Euro- 
pean widgeon and the European teal, 
the latter similar to our green-winged 
teal, are birds from the old world which 
occasionally visit our shores. To the 
above list may be added one or two other 
species, but which appear in this coun- 
try so seldom as to be of no importance 
to the American sportsman. 
Much that has been said about sea- 
duck shooting and the habits of those 
fowl in the chapter on that subject, ap- 
pearing in the November, 1919, issue of 
Forest and Stream, applies to the 
river-ducks as well. In addition there 
are certain traits of the river-ducks and 
methods of hunting them which may be 
considered as especially applying to 
these birds. 
The river-ducks are the fresh water, 
shoal water ducks or dabblers. As we 
have discovered, however, the terms sea- 
ducks and river-ducks, used by ornithol- 
ogists, are somewhat misleading, since 
many of the species of sea-ducks are not 
only found along the sea-coast but on the 
inland lakes, rivers and marshes as well, 
while some of the river-ducks are shot 
on the salt water in company with their 
Live decoys 
sea-loving relatives. However, some of 
the members of both families live more 
closely in accord with their class-name 
and seldom frequent the other’s habitat. 
Unlike the sea-ducks, which prefer 
deep water and dive long distances under 
it in search for their food, the river- 
ducks do not dive, except sometimes as a 
means of escape when wounded, but take 
their food on the surface or just below 
the surface in shallow waters by tipping 
up like the common barn yard ducks. 
A LTHOUGH tremendously swift of 
flight, the sea-ducks are adapted 
primarily for diving and for swim- 
ming both on the surface and below. 
Their feet and webs are very large 
and the legs placed far back on the 
body, which facilitates these actions, 
but their progression on land is ac- 
cordingly difficult. On the other hand, 
the legs of the river-ducks are placed 
more centrally and the feet are smaller, 
which results in their being well adapted 
to walking, although rather less efficient 
in swimming and much less so in diving. 
The wings of the river-ducks are larger 
than those of the sea-ducks. 
The one qualification of th° sca-ducks 
while in flight seems to be speed. They 
are usually found on large bodies of 
open water and, there having plenty of 
room on all sides, their one aim is to get 
to wherever they are going in the short- 
est possible time. They may alight on 
the particular place they headed for or 
they may go many yards farther before 
they are able to check their speed and 
settle on the water. 
The river-ducks are skilled in flying 
through the woods and alighting accu- 
rately in the small pond holes in the 
timber or on the small spaces of open 
water in the dense marshes. Many of 
the river-ducks can fly swiftly through 
dense woods, dodging the branches with 
the skill of the ruffed grouse. 
The feathers of the river-ducks are 
lighter and they are not so well pro- 
tected against winter storms and ex- 
tremely cold weather as the sea-ducks, 
so the dabblers are generally well on 
their way toward warmer climes when 
the hardier sea-fowl are still enjoying 
the icy waters and chilling winds of 
northern feeding grounds. 
When wounded, the sea-ducks often 
escape by diving and swimming long dis- 
tances under water. The river-ducks 
when wounded seldom dive, but resort to 
skulking and hiding in the reeds, and 
since they are most often shot in the 
marshes or on waters well grown over 
with plants and grasses, they usually 
have opportunity to practise this means 
of escape, at which they are proficient. 
It is most remarkable how clever 
these ducks are at hiding, and the 
sportsman will often pass by a wounded 
one without seeing it, although the bird 
may be lying motionless and flat upon 
the surface of the water among the 
grasses but a few feet from the boat. 
It therefore is most important for the 
sportsman to mark well the falling duck 
and to proceed as quickly as possible to 
the spot where it was last seen, and 
there to search very carefully among the 
rushes. If one of these ducks, wounded, 
reaches the main marsh or tall reeds it 
stands an excellent chance of never be- 
ing found unless, of course, a good duck- 
ing dog accompanies the shooter. 
V.Tien hunting without the services of 
- dog, I have shot down and lost a con- 
siderable number of river-ducks which, 
wounded, had succeeded in skulking off 
to the thick rushes before I could reach 
them and where, once ini the friendly 
cover, all trace of them vanished. 
I T may be imagined from the preced- 
ing that a dog can generally be used 
to good advantage, while on some 
grounds their services are not to be dis- 
pensed with. There are several species 
of dogs used as retrievers in this sport. 
Perhaps the best is the hardy water- 
spaniel. This jolly and ever willing little 
Feeding ground and natural habitat of the river ducks 
