110 
FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. 
many as he can conveniently stow away, without in the least 
alarming the rest. They are also taken with snares made of 
horsehair, or with hooks baited with small pieces of sheep’s 
lights, which, floating on the surface, are swallowed by the 
Ducks, and with them the hooks. They are also approached 
under cover of a stalking horse, or a figure formed of thin 
boards, or other proper materials, and painted so as to represent 
a horse or an ox. 
“ But all these methods require much watching, toil, and 
fatigue ; and their success is but trifling when compared with 
that of the decoys now used both in France and England; 
which, from its superiority over every other mode, is well de¬ 
serving the attention of persons of this country residing in the 
neighborhood of extensive marshes frequented by Wild Ducks, 
as by this method Mallard and other kinds may be taken by 
thousands at a time.”— Wilson’s Am. Ornithology. 
Next in size, though neither in beauty nor in excellence, to 
the Mallard, comes the Dusky Duck, better known in every 
part of the United States as the Black Duck , the latter being a 
misnomer as applied to this fowl, and really belonging to a very 
different bird, which will be treated of hereafter with the Sea 
Ducks— Fuligula. This bird, unlike the former species, which 
is common to both continents, Europe and America, if not to 
Africa and Asia also, is peculiar to North America, ranging 
from Labrador to Texas; in both of which, strange to say, 
and in all the intermediate localities, it breeds and rears its 
young. 
THE DUSKY DUCK. 
Anas Obscura — Wilson , Bonap. The Black Duck. 
“ Breeds in Texas, westward, and throughout the United 
States, British Provinces, Labrador, and Columbia River. 
