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Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la mtthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 AMKUU'AN I.LK. ■ -^^^ , ^ , iff..' ,•■*»'• ■'^„':';i!'V .:!V'V\ ■ 'Vp ■'■;!'■';>:' ■ ■■,. .■•■,^ ■•-':■:■,; -■■■•/it* ■^s^'Ny;: ^fe?',''-,^ ■' .'V', Mi* '• ■•-■•*• ■■• i'-.^^'^'-^'.vii/^- ■ ■"■(■->'V;" ■;■•: .'^^ 'til Si^l*#r^^" ' V -. .-^^vC- ^ ' sA. ■^"^'^^.i^^v'- ■■ f ;,: « -^, FKANK FOltESTEirs FIELD SPOETS OF niE UNITlLli:) STATES AND BRITISH PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA. Bi IIET^RY AVILI^IAlVt HERBERT, iUTUOU OF KKAXK FORKSTKU's " FrSIt AVI. FWM.VO," ■',.,.,»« ANM. ■U.IWBMA.NSIIIP " "TUB cO- I'LKTE MANirAF. Foil YOU.N.J Bl'OUrSMEN," 1!1U ^"^ ^°- Tlioro Is PxliUnmtlon In the rlmst Not Iioilih' oiilv. * ♦ • ♦ * It Is n inlnjrlcd vnptniv. nnd wo fliul llio bodily si)ldt iiiountln^' to tlu> mind. 8m iMiKUToy Brydoes. NEW EDITI0X,COXTAIXrXO NTTMKROTTS COnnKCTrOVS AVD AnDITIONtl WITH ILLUSTUATrON's KKOM NATKUI', AXD A BWEF ' MEMOIR OP TirK AUTUOU. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. 1. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED RY W. A. TOWNSEND & ADAMS. 1808. SK .H55 \/.x Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the yeiir 1848, BY STRINGER AND TOWNSEND. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New- York. 'gree, within the definition of game, as being objects of pursuit to the si)ortsman, both for the plea- sure of the cliase, and for the purjioses oftlie table; and in ad- dition to these, there are seventeen members of the family of GruidiB, including Cranes, Herons, Bitterns, and Ibises, which are generally shot by the sportsman, when he finds an opportu- nity, altliough they cannot be in any sort regarded as gam(\ and are not, in general, suitable for food, their llesh being, lor the most part, coarse, dark, and fishy. A certain number of these birds, however, must bo dealt with and regarded as game; I be- gin, therefore, this department of my work, with what are com- monly called, although only one of them correctly, BAY SNIPE. No. 1. Red-ureasted Sandpipkr — Tringa hlandica ; Linn, — Vulgo, the Robin Snijw. Asli-colored Snuilpipor, Triiifja ciiioroa, Wils. Wintor. — Rod-bronstod Siind- pipor, Triiiga rufii, Wils. Spriiijt.— Triiiirii islimiiicii, Hoiiiip. Syii Triujra ciucreu, S\v. «& Rich. — Knot or Ash-colorod Suudpipor, Nutt. Man. — Knot or Ash-colored Sandpiper, Triiijra islaiidica, Aud. -•' Specific Character. — Bill straight, longer than the head ; tarsi one inch and throe-sixteenths long ; rump and upper tail coverts' white, barred with dark brown ; region of the votit and tlio lower tail coverts white, with dusky markings. In sprinir, the 10 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. I) upper parts are ash-gray, variegated with black and pale yel- lowish-red ; Iftwer paits, including the throat and lore-neck, brownish-orange. In autumn, the upper parts are ash-gray, margined with dull white ; rump, and upper tail coverts, barred with black and white ; lower parts white ; the sides of the body marked with dusky ; a dull white line over the eye. Adult in Kpring — bill black; a broad band of reddish brown commences at the base of the upper mandible, extends halfway to the eye, where it changes to reddish-brown ; upper part of liead and the hind neck dusky, the feathers margined witli greyish-white ; a few touches of pale reddish-brown on the latter; tliroat, fore- neck, breast, and abdomen, reddish-brown ; vent white ; lower tail coverts white, spotted with dusky; upper plumage blackish- brown ; upper tail coverts barred with black and white ; tail pale brown, margined with white ; primary coverts black, tipped witli white ; secondary coverts grayish-brown, margined with white. Young, with the upper parts grayish-brown, the feathers with central dusky streaks, a narrow lino of cinnamon color toward their margins, which are dull white ; the lower parts ash-gray. Length of adult, ten inches, wing six and three- quarters. " Tliis species is familiar to our gunnel's by the name of Robin Snipe. In the great Soutli Bay, Long Island, where those im- mense salt marshes are sepanited by creeks and channels, a numl)er orheaiitlliil islands appear, dilfering in size and form, each having an appropriate name ; they form (juito an interest- ing feiiturc in the geography of the island ; there the Red- breasted Sandpiper, during its short stay in the spring, takes up its abode. Sliortly after daylight, it commences its daily labor in search of food, visiting the shoal ponds that aliound with small shell-lish, (m which thoy chiefly subsist. The wily gunner, eager to profit by the ready sale of this superior bird, makes early preparation to reci'ive them ; lying concealed near their favo- rite haunts, by imitating their peculiar note, ho thins their ranks by bringing them within reach of his well-directed gun. ' At the poj'iod for migiating, this species assemble hi flocks, BAY SNIPE. 11 and steer for the North, where it passes the season of reproduc- tion ; about the middle of August it returns with its young, when the change of plumage is quite visible — the abdomen at this time is whire, tlie breast pale rufous. Late in September it moves southward ; at this period the lower plumage is white, spotted on the neck, l)reast and flanks with dusky ; the upper plumage ash-gray ; in this dress it is the ' White Robin Snipe' of our gunners. "In the autumn it generally frequents the inner beach, and is sometimes observed along the surf, collecting minute marine productions that are cast on the shore by the waves. In the fall it is more timid than it is in the spring, frequently passing within hearing of the fowler's treacherous whistle, without ap- proaching his decoy. In the spring its lower plumage resem- bles the Red-breasted Thrush, or Robin — Tunhis migratorius — from which it receives its name. Common to both continents, and is said to lay four eggs." No. 2. Red-Backed Sandpiper — Trivia Alpina; Linn. — Vulgo, Black-breasted Plover. Tringa alpina. Red-backed Sandpiper, Wils. Trinnra nipina, Donap. Syn. Tringtt alpina, American Dunlin, Sw. & Rich. Dunlin or Oxbird, Nutt. Man. Red-backed Sandpiper, Trlnga Alpina, Aud. " Specific Character. — Bill about one-third longer than the head, bent toward the cud ; length of tarsi one inch. Adult with the bill black, one-third longer than the head, slightly bent toward the end, and rather shorter than that of T. Suharquata ; upper part of the head, back and scapulars chcstnut-rcd, the centre of each feather black, which color octcupies a largo poition of the scapulars; wing coverts and quills grayish-brown; the bases and tips of the secondaries, and part of the outer webs of the mitldle primaries, white ; forehead, sides of the head, and hijul- neck, pale reddisli-gray, streaked with dusky ; fore-neck and upper part of breast, grayish-white, streaked with dusky ; on the lower part of the breast a large black patch ; abdomen I ' 12 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. I ! white ; lower tail coverts white, marked with dusky ; tail light Inownish-gray, streaked — the central feathers darker, " Winter dress, upper parts brownish-gray ; throat grayish- \vhitc ; fore part and sides of neck, sides of the head, and sides of the body, pale brownish-gray, faintly streaked with darker; rest of the lower parts white. Length seven inches and a half; winjj four and an eidith. " This bird, more familiar to our gunners by the name of ' Black-breast,' an ives on the shores of Long Island in the month of April. It soon passes on to the north, and is said to breed in the Arctic regions. In the month of September it returns, and at that season is quite abundant, though not so plentiful with us as it is on the seacoast of New-Jersey. It as- sociates in flocks, and frequents the shores, sand bars and muddy flats, feeding on worms and minute shell-fish, which abound in such places. In the month of October it is usually very fat, and is considered excellent eating. In autumn, the plumage is so entirely different from that of spring, that by gunners generally it is considered a distinct species, and is called by them at that season * Winter Snipe.' It then resembles the autumnal dress of the Curlew Sandpiper, the form and length of their bills being not unlike. By persons not accustomed to comparing birds, the two species might easily be confounded. The neck of the latter is longer and more slender — the head smaller and more rounded — the \vings and legs longer — and with its general superiority in size, is suflficient to determine the species. " The Red-backed Sandpiper is found during autumn on the sandy and muddy shores along the whole extent of the coast of the United States. Ft is a restless, active bird, and gleans its food with great nimbleness, and seems to be fond of continually changing its position. Soon after alighting, they collect togeth- er, and make a short excursion over the water, again alighting a short distance from where they had previously taken wing. During their aerial excursions, when whirling about, they crowd so close together, that many arc killed at a single shot. On one of these occasions, Mr. Brasher informs me that he killed fifty- •\ I . i BAY SNIPE. 12 two, by discharging both barrels into a flock. This number is greater than I ever before heard of; but from ten to fifti.cn is not unusual. " To the curious who are fond of speculating on anomalies, 1 will mention a coincidence connected with an individual of this species, that I am at a loss to account for. In the month of November, 1S40, a gentleman shot a Red-backed Sandpiper. Not recognizing it in its winter dress, and supposing it to be Bomething unusual, he had the politeness to forward it to my address. It being a very common species, and having in my cabinet several duplicates in both spring and winter plumage, I did not think it worth preserving. I threw it carelessly on my table, where it remained for two or three weeks without receiving further notice. At the expiration of that time, my attention was again called to it, when I was somewhat surprised to find it in as good condition as when I had first received it. It having been shot about three weeks, and during the time that it was in my possession kept in a room in which almost every day there was a fire, I decided, as a matter of curiosity, to keoj) it in order to ascertain how long it would remain before decom- position would take place. On several subsequent examina- tions, I found no symptoms of decay, but discovered that the breast and other fleshy parts began to shrink. Now at the ex- piration of two years, it is perfectly dry and hard — the eyes sunk in, or entirely dried up, a large porti(jn of the breast-bone bare, the abdomen much contracted, and at the same time all the feathers are comjjlete ; in other words, it is a self-preserved mummy. The entrails were not removed, neither was it inject- ed, nor artificial moans of any kind resorted to. Had tliis oc- curred with an upland bird, especially when in poor condition, I should not have thought it strange : but the shore birds, from their being so excessively oily, are proverbial for spoiling soon after shooting." ill 14 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. t i *i t No. 3. Pectoral Sandpiper — Trhiga Pectoralia ; BoTUip. — Vvlgo, Meadow Snipe. Triiiga pectoralis, Bonap. Syii. Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pectoralis, Nutt. Munn, Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pectoralis, Aud. Oru. Biog. " Specific CtiHracter, — Bill straight, base orange-green ; length of tarsi one inch and one-sixteenth ; upper parts brownish-black edged with reddish-brown ; throat white ; fore part of neck and upper part of the breast light brownish-gray, streaked with dusky ; rest of lower parts including the lower tail coverts white. Adult with the bill straight ; top of the head dark-brown, inter- mixed with black ; sides of the head, neck and a large portion of the breast, grayish-brown, streaked with dusky ; chin white ; a streak of dark-brown before the eye, continuing to the nostril— directly above a faint line of white : back dark-brown ; featliers margined with white ; primary quills dark-brown — shaft of the first white ; outer secondaries slightly edged with white ; tail feathers brown, margined with brownish-white — two middle feathers darker, longest and more pointed ; lower part of the breast, abdomen, and sides of the body, and under tail coverts white; feet dull-yellow; tibia bare, about half the length. Fe- male, the general plumage lighter. Length nine inches and a half; wing five and a quarter. " During some seasons, this species is quite plentiful on the shores of Long Island. It is generally overlooked by the gun- ners, and I find that mf)st of our sportsmen are not aware of the claims it has to their attention. "In the spring I have never mot with it in large numbers, and from this circumstance I am inclined to the opinion that it pass- es on to its brooding grounds with but littlo delay. In the latter part of August it returns, and increased numbers appear on the nocks of land in the immediate vicinity of tide water, and are also found in the islands in the bay. Although largo numbers are sometimes seen occupying the same feeding grounds, still BAY SNIPE. 15 there appears to be a great want of sociability among them — each one seemingly so intent on providing for its own comfoit, as to lie entirely regardless of those of its companions. "When feeding, the flock scatter over the bare jdacoa that occur on the moist grounds which they inhabit ; and when thus employed, are silent. They are by no means wary, and regard the approacli of the gunner with indiU'ercnce. On one occasion, I fell in with a large number, the nearest one of which I walked up to within close shooting distance, seemingly entirely unno- ticed. Notwithstanding there were upwards of forty in view, they were so widely distributed that I could not get two in a range, nor did I during my operations, which were continued until I had procured twenty-one of the number. At the report of my gun, those that were not singled out, ilew (m a short dis- tance, and resumed their occupation as liefore ; and during the repeated firing, I did not observe an individual pass beyond the meadow whicii was comprised in a few acres. When surprised, it springs up, presenting a fair mark ; and, if allowed to proceed, flies steadily at a short distance above the surface of the ground. " It feeds on various species of insects and minute shell-fish, which lie near the surface, and is at times seen borinjr with its bill to a greater depth. On dissection I have found in its stomach particdes of plants. Its note, which is a low whistle, is not often repeated, except when apprehensive of diinger. " To some of the residents of the island, it is known by the name of' Meadow Snipe,* and I have heard the bay-men term it ' Short-neck.' In autumn it is (juite common at Egg Harbor, and sometimes remains there till the early part of Novenil)er. Toward the latter part of the season it is in excellent flesh. On the seacoast of New-.Iersey it is called the ' Fat Bird.' " Mr. Baird has informed mo that it occurs in Pennsylvania, in which section it has received the appellation of ' .Tack-Snipe.' I have occasionally seen it in our locality during the incmth of July ; but in such instances it has been alone, and I have alwavs at that period looked upon them as stragglers, who, for want of inclination or ability to perform the fatiguing journey, have loitered behind the migratory band. I 16 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. If " On Long Island I do not think it breeds, and I am not aware that their nests have been found on the seacoast of the United States. In autumn its flesh is very juicy and well flavored ; when procured late in the season, I think it superior to any of our shore birds ; and I have partaken of it when I have thought it equal to any of our upland game. " The Long-legged Sandpijier, the Curlew Sandpiper, and the Semipalmated Sandpiper, I purposely omit as so rare that they must not be regarded by the sportsman as regular game. Wilson's Sandpiper and Schinz Sandpiper, I also omit on ac- count of their I'arity, small size, or worthlessness." No. 4. Yellow-Shanks Tatler — Totanus Flavipes ; Latham. Vulgo, the Yellow-Legs. Scolopax fliivipes, Wils Amer. Oin. Totanus flavipes, Bonap. Syn. Tota- nus flavipes, Yfllow-shanks Tatler, Sw. & Rich. Yellow-shanlcs, Totanua flavipes, Aud. Orn. Biog. " Specific Character. — Bill along the ridge one inch and three- eighths ; length of tarsi one inch and seven-eighths ; legs yel- low. Adult with the bill black ; throat white ; upper part of the head, lores, cheeks, hind part and sides of the neck, deep brownish-gray, streaked with grayish-white ; eye encircled with white, a band of the same color from the bill to the eye ; fore- neck, sides of the body, and upper part of the breast, grayish- white, streaked with grayish-brown ; lower part of the breast and abdomen white ; lower tail coverts white, the outer feath- ers barred with brown ; scapulars and fore-part of the back, brown, the feathers barred and spotted with black and white ; primaries blackish-brown, the shaft of the outer brownish- white, whiter toward the tip — the rest dark brown ; secondariea margined with white ; hind part of the back brownish-gray ; tail barred with grayish-brown, white at the tip ; legs, feet, and toes yellow ; claws black. Length ten inches and three quar- ters ; wing six. Young witli the legs greenish — and by those who have not recognized it as the young of the year, I have heard the propriety of its name questioned. 3 ■ y'4 3 BAY SMPE. 17 ieep rith tbre- 'ish- ireast leatli- Dack, rliite ; 'iiisli- hariea Igray ; ;t, and quar- lliose have 1 " This common species, well known throughout the Union, ar- rives on the shores of New Jersey and Long Island in the early part of May. It associates in flocks, and frerpients the muddy flats that arc left bare at the recess of the tide. At high water, it resorts to the ponds on the beaches and meadows, where it gleans its food, consisting of small shell-fish, worms, and insects. It is sometimes observed wading into the shallow water, in pur- suit of small fiehes. " Gregarious in its habits, it is continually calling for others to unite with it, when its shrill cry informs the gunner of its ap- proach. It obeys the decoys, answers the fowler's whistle, and if the sportsman is well concealed, sets its wings, and glides smoothly up to the decoys, gradually lowering its Inng legs — which, when flying, appear conspicuous beyond tlie tail feathers — and gently alights on the soft mud, or in the shallow water. It is more timid than the Red-breasted Snipe ; but like that species, when invited by the gunner's whistle, it is not unusual for it to return, and receive the second fire. " The voice of the Yellow-shanks is shrill, and consists of three or more notes. When wounded in the wing, it runs fast, and hides among the grass, frequently so well concealing itself as to avoid detection. Its manners and customs are well known to our gunners, and it is met with by sportsmen on many streams in the interior. Although its flesh is not superior, it meets with ready sale in the New York markets, and large numbers are shot to supply the demand. "A noted gunner residing in the vicinity of Bellport, informed me that he killed one hundred and six Yellow-shanks, by dis- charging both barrels of his gun into a flock while they were Bitting along the beach. This is a higher number than I should have hit upon, had I been asked to venture an opinion on the result of a very unusually successful shot. Still, it is entitled to credit. Wilson speaks of eighty-five Red-breasted Snipe having been shot at one discharge of a musket. Mr. Audubon mentions that he was present when one hundred and twenty- seven were killed by discharging three barrels. Mr. Brasher, VOL. II. 8 \r 18 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. hi i- during tlic montli of May of last year, at Egg Harbor, killed thirty-three Red-breasted Snipe, by discharging both barrels into a flock as they were passing by him. Tiiis number, al- though small in comparison with those mentioned above, is large, and exceeds any exploit of my own, either with the present or former species — of both of which I have killed a goodly number, but do not deem it important to tax my memory witli the number shot on any one occasion, to further illustrate the gregarious habits of this familiar bird. " In the Fauna Boreali Americana, it is stated that the Yel- low-shanks is a very common bird in the fur countries, and is seen either solitary or in pairs, on the banks of eveiy river, lake, and marsh, up to the northern extremity of the continent. " Mr. Audubon found a few on the coast of Labrador, but did not discover their nests — and adds that he has been informed that they breed in considerable numbers about Pictou. In the latter part of August, the Yellow-shank commences moving southward, and in September they have usually all retired from the shores of Long Island." No. 5. Tell-Tale Tati.er — Totanus Vociferus ; Wilson. — Vufgo, the Greater Yellow-Legs. Tell-tale Godwit or Snipe, Scolopax vocHerua, Wils. Amer. Orii. Totanus me- lanoleucus, Bonap. Syn. Totanus vociferus, Tell-tale, Sw. & Rich. Tell- tale or Greater Yellow-shanks, Nutt. Man. Tell-tale Godwit, Totanus tne- lanoleucus, Aud. Orn. Biog. " Specific Character. — Bill along the ridge two and one-fourth inches ; tarsi two and one-half; legs yellow. Adult with the bill black, at the base bluish ; upper part of the head, loral space, cheeks, and neck, streaked with brownish black and white ; throat white ; a white line from the bill to the eye ; a white ring round the eye ; breast and abdomen white, spotted and barred with brownish-black ; sides and tail coverts the same ; lower surface of the primaries light-gray — upper brown- ish black, the inner spotted white ; wing coverts and back, ■•*^ BAY SNIPE. 10 brown, spotted \vith white, and dusky ; scapulars the same ; tail ])rown, baiTed with white. " Winter plumaajo, the upper parts lighter — large portion of the bieast and abdomen white ; sides of the body barred with dusky. Length fourteen inches, wing seven and a quarter. " This species — with us not as numerous as the former — is known to the gunners by the name of Greater Yellow-shanks. It arrives on Long Island about two weeks earlier than the preceding, like which, its visit in the spring is of short dura- tion. It has an attachment for the muddy shores of creeks and ponds — where it collects its food, and like many other species of shore birds, seems to have a fondness for tlie spawn of the kin£T-crab or ' horse-foot.' It syocs to the north and returns in the latter part of August, and remains until cold weather. On the meadows, in the vicinity of Oyster Pond, I have shot them late in November. In autumn they get in fine condition, and their flesh is at that season well flavored. They do not usually associate in large flocks, generally roving about in par- ties of from five to twelve. Its voice is much stronger than that of the former, and consists of fewer notes, which by imita- ting, it obeys. It is more suspicious than the Lesser Yellow- shanks, though if the gunner lies close, it approaches the decoys without much hesitation. " It walks over its feeding grounds with a graceful carriage, and collects its food in an elegant and easy manner. It is ca- pable of rapid flight, and at times mounts high in the air, from which elevation its loud, clear, and familiar notes are often heard. " Its habits are similar to the preceding, to which it bears a great resemblance in markings. On the coast of New Jersey it is common, and I have been informed that a few breed there. On Long Island I can find no trace of its having been found breeding, and I have no recollection of meeting with it there during the month of June, or early part of July ; in the latter part of the last named month I have met with it, but that period is unusually early, as it generally returns to us from the North, from two to three weeks later than the Lesser Yel- low-shanks." \r "^ 20 FRANK forester's FIFLD SPORTS V •.; i I No. 6. Semipalmated Tatler — Totanus Semipalmatus ; Lath. — Vulgo, the Willet. Scolopax semipalmata, Wils. Totanus semipalmatus, Semipalmated Tatler, Sw. & Rich. Semipalmated Snipe or Willet, Nutt. Semipalmated Snipe or Willet, Aud. " Specific Character. — Secondaries and basal part of the pri- maries white ; toes connected at hase by broad membranes. Adult with the head and neck brown, intermixed with grayish- white ; breast and sides of the body spotted and waved with brown on white ground ; abdomen white ; tail coverts white, barred with brown ; tail grayish brown, barred with darker brown — the outer two feathers lighter; rump brown ; fore part of the back and wing coverts brown, largely spotted with dull- white ; primaries blackish-brown, broadly banded with white ; secondaries white. Length fifteen inches and a half, wing eight. " This handsome species is well known to all our bay-men by the name of ' Willet,' by which appellation it is equally fami- liar to all sportsmen who fancy bay shooting. " It passes the winter in the Southern States, and at the ap- proach of spring commences migrating northward. It arrives on the shores of Long Island about the first of May, and is com- mon on the seacoast of New .Jersey at the same period. It is quite common to the Island, though it cannot be said to be very abundant, nor is it so plentiful as it is at Egg Harbor, where it oreeds. In the latter part of May its nest is found on the salt marshes among the grass, of which material, and a few rushes, it is formed. The eggs — four in number, are rather more than two inches in length, and about an inch and a half in breadth, and very thick at the largest end — the color dark olive, blotched with blackish-brown, which markings are more numerous at the great end. "During the season of incubation, if you approach its nest, it rises from the marsh and flies wildly around, filling the air with its shrill cries, which consist of three notes, which are so vio- i m i "'^ BAY SNIPE. 21 lently repeated when tlefcn'■'•l^' F'' r >H' .*-'i'W Xi t^'m. 'Air 1.* r S; . I ;i ! 1 1 .1 V ;:r I .1 • ' • r 1 1, .i ■;--..• i>! . ! ti.< i... •;. -la:..." \\'i'fj'> ' <' /(VV.- I ;i. i '■•■ ' ii. I Vi • v» 1 ■ ■ a.' . ' ' ' ■,, u. , ••;;■■. .■•.i'l"' ,'■'. ■;.. 1 'I 1^ \vi-.. •:; ;h !■• (If )) ■ ' ;-i|^ ' I'l Ic Mi i ;:. r. , i' !,■!• ' '■•• i- ,•■[•'. . ' "- ' ;V'i,i ' 111*- i -p')! iirul:,t;i ■ ;./ i >'. ' ' ■; <■' vi'-f . i- ■ ■ ;. ''/ ■^ p^^i:V'^f. f BAY SNIPE. 25 latter edged with white, tlie foiiner tipped with the same ; hind part f)f back white ; the rump marked witli roundish spots of blackisli-hrown ; upper tail coverts dull white, barred with black ; tail feathers crossed with numerous black bands, their tips white ; loral band dusky, the space between which and the medial band on the fore part of the head, grayish white, tinged with ferruginous, and slightly touched with dusky ; sides of the head spotted with dark .)rown ; lower parts dull orange-red ; the abdomen lighter ; the neck, and fore part of breast, spotted with dusky ; the sides of the body with numerous bars of the same color ; legs and feet dull yellowish-green. Young with the lower parts paler. Winter dress, the upper parts brown- ish-grey ; neck ash-grey, streaked with dusky ; lower parts gray- ish while, with dusky bare on the sides of the body. Length ten inches and a half, wing six. " Our gunners, as if fearful that nothing would be left to con- nect the past with the present generation, cling to the old pro- vincial names fijr birds, recognising this species by the singular and unmeaning name of ' Dowitcher.' " At the close of April, the Red-breasted Snipe arrive on the coasts of Long Island. Invited by a bountiful supply of food, at the reflux of the tide, it resorts to the mud-flats and shoals to partake of the rich supply of shell-fish and insects, which Naturo in her plenitude has provided for it. As the tide advances, it retires to the bog meadows, where it is seen probing the soft ground for worms. In the spring, it remains with us but a short time. Soon after recruiting, it obeys the call of unerring Nature, and steers for the North, where it passes the season of reproduction. About the middle of July, it retunis with its young, and continues its visit during September ; and if the season bo open, lingers about its favorite feeding grounds until the last o!' the month. "The whistling note of the Iled-breasted, or 'Quail Snipe,* us it is termed in some sections of the Island, is well known to the practical bay-gunner, and he so truly imitates it, that the call is obeyed at a great distance. Fond of associating in large f 26 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. flocks, this species is readily decoyed, and is noted for its unsus- picious and gentle manner. " The Red-breasted Snipe is fond of frequenting the fresh ponds that occur on the lower parts of the beach, or meadow, durinjr wet seasons, which situations are more favorable for procuring it, and attended with Vf the neck, of •There has been much confusion in the classification and nomenclature of these birds. This and the following species were formerly classed us Tringa., Sandpipers, I have therefore placed tliem next in order. »,T- ' n M ■'•N I i 30 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 'i 1 I I I ; which color are the fore-neck and the sides of the breast ; lower parts white ; tail blackish-brown, white at the base, of which color are the lateral feathers, with a spot of black on the innei vanes near the end — the rest margined with reddish-brown and tipped with white ; upper tail coverts whi;e ; hind part of the back white ; the feathers on the rump black ; fore part of the back mottled with black and reddish-brown ; primnries dark- brown, inner webs white; secondaries broadly edged with white, fomiing a band on the wings ; outer secondary coverts reddish-brown ; inner black — outer scapulars white, with dusky spots ; inner scapulars reddish-brown. In winter, the colors are duller. Length nine inches, wing five and three-quarters. " In this vicinity, this species is bettor known to the gunners by the name of ' Brant Bird ;' at Egg Harbor it is called 'Horse-foot Snipe,' from its feeding on the spawn of the king- crab, or ' horse-foot,' as the bay-men term it. " Early in the month of April it airives among us from the Southern States, where many pass the winter, and leaves for its breeding place at the North in the latter part of May. It re- turns to the shores of New-Jersey and Long Island about Sep- tember, where it remains until late in auttimn. This is not a numerous species. In its habits it is rather solitary, and is seen singly or in small parties at that season, wandering along the beach in search of insects and minute shell- fish, which it pro- cures by rolling over the small pebbles, from which it receives its name. In the fall, it is generally in fine condition, and es- teemed a delicacy. At Egg Harbor, the young of the species are called ' Beach Birds.' " No. 13. The Sandeuling — Calidris Arcnaria; llliger. Ruddy Plover, Charadriiw rubidus, Wils. Amer. Orn. Summer. Sanderling Plover, Churadrius Calidris, Wils. Amer. Orn. Winter. Calidris arenaria. Sanderling Sw. & Rich. Sanderlinjr Plover, Calidris arenaria, Nutt. Man. Sanderling, Tringa arenari-x, Aud. Orn. Biog. " Specijic Character. — Bill straight, black, along the gap one ;l i BAY SNIPE. 31 inch and one-eighth ; length of tarsi one inch ; hind toe want- ing. Adult with hill straight, ahoiit as long as the head. Spring plumage, upper parts, with tlie throat, fore-neck and upper part of the breast rufous, intermixed with dusky and grayish-white, deeper red on the back ; lower part of tlie breast, abdomen, and sides of the body pure white; tarsi and feet bl;ick ; chiws small, comprcssi'd ; primaries, outer webs black, innei webs light-brown ; shafts brown at the base, tips black, rest pure white ; secondaries light-brown, broadly maj'gincd with white. Winter dress, lower parts white ; ujipcr parts grayish-white, intermixed with black or dusky, darkest on the back. Length seven inches and three-quarters, wing four and seven-eighths. " The Sanderling is said to be an inhabitant of both Europe and America. According to Latham, it is known to be an in- habitant of the remote coasts of Australia, and is found on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia. To the coast of the United States it is one of the most common species, but with us I have never observed very large numbers during spring. About the middle of Au^ 1 '; ': ■ f: y| 1 ; 32 IRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. treating with the influx or reflux of the sea. It is naturally very unwary, and regards man with less suspicion than most of our Tringas. Wlien fired into, those which survive rise with a low whistling note, jierform a few evolutions, and presently resume their occujjation with as much confidence as jireviously cxhihit- ed. When wounded in the wing it takes to the water and swims well. " Late in the season it gets very fat, and is excellent eating The plumage of the Sanderling, liice most other species, varies with the seasons. In spring, the fore part of the neck and up- per portion of the hreast, is of a j'ale rufous color ; in autumn, the entire lower parts are pure white — exceeding in whiteness the hleached sand on which it dwells. "Early writers have classed this hird under the genus CJiara- drius — Plover — to which the only claim it has, is, tliat the hind toe is wanting. Wilson, in his excellent work, speaks of the impropriety of this arrangement — though not wishing to disturh previous chissificatifm, he has followed the same system as that adopted by his predecessors. " In our more modem nomena^ture, it appears in a new genus — Calidrli — of Illiger — and up to the present day is the only species of that genus discovered. In Mr. Audubon's work it is classed with the Tringas, and with the next we close our remarks on that genus." No. 14. The Spotted Sandpiper— Tringa Macularia. — Vulgo, Tcctcr-Tilluj). Tringa macularia, Wils. A.mer. Orn. Totanus macularius, Bonnp. Syn. Spot- tod Taller or Poot-weot, Nutt. Man. Spotted Sandpiper, Totanus macula- rius, Aud. Orn. Dio;r. "Specific Character. — Bill along the gap about one inch; length of tarsi seven-eighths ; upper parts brown, barred with dusky ; lower parts white, spotted with blackish-brown. Adult with the hill longer than the head, slender, greenish-yellow at the base, dusky at the end ; lower parts white, distinctly spotted with BAY SNIPE. 33 blackish brown ; tail olive-brown, faintly barred with dusky, and tipped with white ; upper parts brown, barred with dusky ; inner primaries tipped with wliite ; secondaries more broadly tijiped with the same ; a band of wliite l)elilii(l tlio eye — a white ring round the eye ; outer toes connected by a mem- brane as far as the first jf)int. Length eight inches, wing tlireo and seven-eighths. Young without the sjjots on the lower parts. ' This small and well-marked species is the first of this family that visits us in tlie spring. It ajjjjears on Long Island al)out the middle of April, and resides with us jiermanently until late in autumn, continuing its sojourn after most of the other species of Tringa have departed for their winter quarters. " It is disti'ib.utcd throughout the United States, and occurs at Labrador, where, according to I\Ir. Audubon, as Avith us, it breeds, as well as along the coast of the Middle and Eastern States and the interior. It is a very commrtn species, and from its habit of constantly raising and h)wering its tail, it is!'amiliar to persons residing in the country by the cognomen of ' Toet er,' or ' Tiltup.' " Tliey do not associate in large flocks, and like the former, are rather solitary. They inhabit the moist grounds in the vi- cinity of streams and ponds, and often resort to the ploughed fields to glean up the worms that lie exposed in the furrows. Early in the month of May, it commences jneparing its nest, and retires to a neighboring field for that purpose. The tene- ment— which is formed of dry grass and straw — is placed on the ground in a cluster of weeds or briars ; sometimes it is found in the most exposed part of the pasture ground, only partially hidden by the stinted vegetation by which it is sur- rounded. It is also found along the banks of small streams, and on the margins of ponds. The eggs, four in number, are of a jiale yellowish cast, irregularly spotted with blackish brown. Tlie young, soon after being iiatched, runs among the grass, uttering a low, feeble, whispering note, which soon increases in cadence, so as to be undistinguishable from the full and clear voice of its parents — and at that early period it is .seen giving VOL. n. ;{ PUANK rOKESTEK's FIELD SPORTS. !' \ i.- !i'i' nttothctailfeathersfor.hichtlusspec.ee that pcaxliar movement to eta ,^ ^^^^^ ^^ i. .La. The fl.^.t ot th Spo«^^ ^_ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^.^^^^^.^^ , sehlom being seen ^y-J " ;J ,,;, , ,,ort clis-ance al.n'e the usually pevlbvmsxtsa.ial gam .^^^^^^ ,„ ^he brook, surface. Whe-v..una..l ^hc ^^^^.^^^ ^^^ a.Kl swims under watcn -^J^ ^^ ^,, ^^ady margms ol or small parties. :t tak P-- ^^,^, excursions to the all our water courses, ^--^ ^J ^ ,,„ ,,, .,,ee-rails, &c. feeding grounds.' PLOVERS. « , B..cK-B.u.,..r„ov..-r.;.»B.«-H«.wP;»»,. No. 1. liiiAC*^ "*'^ TL.h-i-tlcus : Linn. W11-, Amer. Orn. Charadfms ci;lU. ..*..*„., Au,,. on,. B,.e. ;,„. wu„ .1.0 m 1...-U, 'T'^;.; : ': ,; . ,„,,„ „,.«•. .f *« ab,lo,™... l.l».k •. '.""' V "■ "f ™ ,,„„„ „,„ .i,,e, ..f .he ,.0* f„tol,en.l, wW. a b.™,.. "»" P^ "^ ,.„„„, „,yW, w n.e, ,„„, l„o«»t, "W"^ """"•'""' :,,,Ai,h-\,vow..,.l'« l-"*"" .,„.,„.,1 >vi.l. .ln.l-own, tW BAY SNII'E. 35 li and Advilt of the white ; lie uf cU i-white, Vciithcrs tail i\nt\ latter margined with wliite ; primary shafts, about two-thirds from the base, white ; tips bLackish-brown ; part of the inner wobs of the outer primaries wliito ; both webs of the inner pri- maries partially white ; secondaiies white at the base, margined vviih tlie same; feet black; toes connected by a membrane. Female smaller. Young with the upper plumage grayish- brown, the feathers spotted with wliite ; throat, fore-neck, and upper part of the breast gi-ayish-white, streaked with dusky ; rest of the lower parts white. Length of adult male eleven inches and three-quarters, wing seven and a half. " Early in the month of May the Black-bellied Plover arrives among us from its winter quarters. After spending a few days on the sand-bars and beaches, it leaves for the North. In the miMith of August it returns with its young, which is so different in plumage that by many it is considered a distinct species, being called ' Bull or Beetle-headed Plover.' Though shy, it is frecjuently enticed within gunshot by imitating its plaintive note. In autumn, it is distributed along the seacoast, subsisting on miiiute shell-fish and marine insects, on which it gets very fat. It remains with us UTitil the latter part of September, when it moves southward, its migratory course extending to the southernmost extremity of the Union. " Early in autumn this species is very abundant on Montauk. During the mcmth of September, I met with it throughout my entire route across the hills; but found it more numerous on a large bald place, abounding with gi-ubs, worms, and insects of various kinds, about four miles from the Liglit-house. On Mon- tauk I also fell in with straggling parties of the Long-billed Curlew, and found the Yellow-shanks — Tutannn Jlavipcx — and T(!ll-tale — T. rociferus — (juite abundant. These I found in greater numbers in the valleys, along the margins of pools and ponds." sd ?1 " '!,! ii' ■ I] 36 FKANK FORESTKK'S FIELD SPOUTS. i I! , Vulso Frost Bird— often W, Tncl an -S-*> '"-■;:: .t. C li-'--' f"'*"^' °"' ,l,e bin bhck, much *f " J^^^i^a to eye, white; upper abaud over .he eye, ^""^ "« ^''^jj M.ek, thefeaAer, ra.Aed part. Wuding .he ™r;*':™tn-whUe , ,».!, and cover., „i,h »po.= of golden-yellow and a ;„,„ „a.pned dark ^ayUh-brown; -f*;:; jra^'**'"""' '""' "^ ^,h yellowUh-whttC i «"' "^^ f »haf., of the wing qu,ll. paler , the central wt.h dnH-ydto ^ _^^^ Jark-brown , lhUe.owardtheend,wtach,w«hth ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ „,. lower par., brownt.h-btock, though g ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^,„, rtedwlthhrown,dun.wh.te^naMa^^ ^_^^.^^__^^ ^^,, ;„ .he lateral marked »'* ^a*^ , pa.1. are no. .o autumn, the B""- """""J, „ gvayLblue, Length ten dUtinC and rt-;"""^! Jd oncighth. taehe, and a hal , -"S ^.o^h e Golden Plove,-C.,,!»«!" ., Thi, bird Uctaelyalhed tow jor iu sixe, a, well _„fEurope. ^he latter «, h- 'J ^J,^ „aer the wing, a, having the feather. "" ' « ^^ fe„ber, in our ,pec,« are _,l,e aKillat.-wteo. "h°r^"« * j ^^ve had an oppor- g„y,and » *e European .p^«.___^ „„„ „„„evou., tunity of cxomu.mg, the go. and of a richer color^ „„ io„g Mand m .. The Ameruan Golden 1'°™' ,„ ,hc norlhern BAY SNIPE. 37 a variety of insects abounding in such places. Grasshoppers seem to be its favorite fare, and when berries can be obtained, they also contribute to its support. " I liave occasionally shot it along the shores and about the ponds on the low wet meadows ; but in general it prefers high, dry lands, unencumbered with woods. The Hempstead Plains are well adapted to its habits, and during some seasons it is quite abundant on tin's miniature prairie. It is better known to our gunners by the name of ' Frost Bird,' so called from being more plentiful during the early frosts in autumn, at which season it is generally in fine condition, and exceedingly well flavored. Commanding a high price in the New York markets, it is eagerly sought after by the gunners, and not requiring the fatigue and exposure attending the shooting of shore birds, it affords much amusement to sportsmen. " On the ground, the Golden Plover displays a great deal of activity, and when observed, often runs with considerable rapi- dity before taking wing. It is less timid than the Black-bellied Plover, and is easily decoyed by imitating its peculiar mellow note. I have often observed it, when passing in a different direction from tiiat in which I was lying, check its course, wheel round, and present an easy mark. " Its stay with us, as before mentioned, is very short, and as the season advances it returns southward. It associates in flocks, and when migrating, moves off" in a regular manner." No. 3. Ring Plover — Charadrius Semipalmatus, Ringed Plover, Tringa liisiticula, Wils. Amer. Orii. Charadrius Seinipalma- tUB, Bonup. Syii. Ainericnu Ring Plover, Cliarudriiia seniipaliniitus, Sw. &. Rich. Semipahnuted Ringed Plover, Nutt. Man. American Ringed Plover, Charadrius seniipulinatus, Aud. Urn. Biog. " Specific Charaster. — Bill shorter than the head ; base orange color ; toward the point black ; a broad band on the forehead white ; margined below with a narrow black band, above with a broad band of the same color ; rest part of the head wood- PaANK FOKESTEU'S FIELD SPOUTS. . ^ V,v a membrane as far as the brown; lateral toes --^ f^.^.fjaistance. Adult male wuh first joint ; inner toes about bal tha ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ .^ .^ ,^,, ,Ue bin flcsb-color atba^, --.o to ^^^^^.,^^^ of black commences at ^^^^Za on tbJ si.les of the neck ; a back to the eye. curvmg ^ " ;;';^, ,vhite -, fore part ot band oa the fore part ^^J^^^Z; chin, throat, and fore-neck cro^vn black; o-rV7tkpue white ; directly below, on passing round on the hmd-neck,p ^^^^ ^^^^.^^,^. , , L lower portion oi the ^^l^^^ !>--» •' ^^'^'^^ T'Z plumage --^^-^^^^^^j;;: secondaries slightly edged w.th Lblackish-brown at theii tips . « ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^,,ft ,„ white on the inner webs ; "^^^J^^;, ^^od-brown ; secondary elongated spot of white ; --; ^^^^^ ,,,, abdomen, sides and ec Jts broadly tipped ^^^^ ,,,,.., bgbter at the base ; lower tail coverts pure white ta ^.^^^ ^^^^^^^ outer feathers white-the x^ t b,o , PI .^^^^^ ^^., ,, cepting the -^^^^^« P^"' "'^Xe^- P^^^ ^ same. Female simdar. ^^^^']^^2Jeu inches and a quarter. band on the neck brown. Length wing five. „ vesembles in plumage the ..This species, though «-«^^^^' ^^^,^, ,f May the American Rinff Plover of Europe. In tie ^ Hs annual jour- „iA which i. is olto" -■" S'--;,"^'^ „,„„ed .. uttcr, » »l.avp „a™i« of ..ea.- arP".ch^ J^ ^^^ „, „„ South, and acorfuig „„,„. Late in autumn .m,.^__^^^^p,^_.,^.., . toMr.Auaubon,.peua»thewn El 1 BAY SNIPE. 39 • iM No. 4. PiPiNO Plover — Charadrius Melodius. — Vulgo, Beach Bird. Ring Plover, Cliaradrius hiaticula, Wils. Amer. Orn. Charadrius melodius, Ord. Pipiiij,' King Plover, Null. Maun. Piping Plover, Charadrius melo- dius, Aud. Orn. Biog. " Specific Character. — Bill shorter than the head ; at base orange color, toward the end black ; fore-neck and cheeks pure white ; bordered above with black ; rest part of the head very pale lu'own. Adidt male with the bill short, orange at the base, anterior to the nostrils black ; forehead white, with a band of black crossing directly above ; upper part of the head, hind- neck, back, scapulars, and wing coverts pale-brown ; rump white, the central feathers tinged with brown; tail brown, white at base, tipped with the same ; lateral feathers pure white — the next with a spot of blackish-brown near tlie end ; upper tail coverts white ; primaries brown ; a large portion of the inner webs white ; a spot of the same on the outer webs of the inner quills ; secondaries white, with a large spot of brown toward the ends ; lower surface of the wings while ; a black band round the lower part of the neck, bntadest on the sides where it terminates ; entire lower plumage white. Female similar, with the band on the neck brown. Length seven inches, wing four and a halt". " To the south shore of Long Island the Piping Plover is com- mon. On the north side of the bay 1 have seldom seen it. It seems to prefer the sandy beaches and shoals, where it collects small bivalve shells which lie exposed at low water. I have also ol)served it along the surf, feeding on the deposite of the receding wave. It breeds here, making no nest, other than a slight excavation in the sand ; the eggs, four in number, are of a pale-yellowish or cream-color, speckled with brownish-black. " When pursued, it runs rapidly ; if closely followed, it takes wing, uttering a mellow note — though at such times its voice is more shrill than the soft tones it makes when not disturbed. In i I m gi 't SI ■'5 „«.K POnESTEK'S ™LB .P0»TS ! il .„.™, «Ue most of -.0 t-*:*; , |„,mav W .>.e »»- of . Bead. BivA -^" ^^^^^^ ^^j I„ a.,c,Mo„ to *cse ,ve 1-- '^^;*\":3.» >'»"(";• 1 A-nm its peculiai ci>, rptrarded as game , predicament \Mth tn« CuR^ews, three , • the AVOSET, ««" ,' ^^ BI.AOK-NECKED S-""-^' « , „f ,ta •• Blue Stocking, ». the ,i„es called, «""' ^ CURLEWS. No. 1. T..E I-O^O-B.--^^;^ ^^.^__^,^,,, ., s„c«* CZ-r-'—l'™ 7"^ te bill to .1.0 eye, ligW- taiibaii^"' twentv-sx inches, wmg measures BAY SNIPE. 41 " This bird is more abundant at the south. On ' Folly Island,' about twenty miles below Charleston, I am informed that many of them breed. They are regular visitors at Egg Harbor and Long Island in the spring and summer, and have been seen in the latter place a^ late as the middle of November. Mr. Brash- er informs me that he has met with it on the prairie lands in Illinois in the month of May. " The Long-billed Curlew, or ' Sickle-bill,' as many term it, frequents the muddy shores of beaches and marshes, where it collects minute shell-fish, which, with worms, and various in- sects, constitute its food. When moving about in flocks, they fly much after the manner of Wild Geese, the leaders uttering a hoarse, dull note, which, by imitating, the groujj readily obeys, and are provei'bial for answering the fowler's call when at a greater distance from his decoys than any other species ot shore birds. When approaching near to the decoys, they spread their wings, and sail slowly up, presenting such a fair mark, that those singled out by the gunner seldom escape. Its flesh is rank, the young partaking of the same flavor. The sympa- thy existing in these birds is so strong, that I have known of instances of flocks being kept within gun-shot by the cries of their wounded companions, until as many as fifteen have shared a similar fate." No. 2. The Hudsonian Curlew — Short-billed Curlew — Jack Curlew. — Numcnius Hudsonicus, Esquimaux Curlew, Scolopax borealis, VVils. Amer. Orn. Nutnenius Hudsoni- cus, Bonap. Syn. Numcnius Hudsonicus, Hudsonian Curlew, Sw. & Rich. Esquimaux Curlew, Numenius Hudsonicus, Nutt. Man. Hudsonian Curlew, Numcnius Hudsonicus, Aud. Orn. Biog. " Sj>ecijic Character. — Length of bill three inches and three- quarters; tarsi two inches ; lower parts white. Adult with the upper part of the head deep-brown, with a central and two lateral lines of whitish ; a brown line from the bill to the eye, and another behind the eye ; neck all round pale yellowish- ,1 ! FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. gray, longitudinally streaked with brown, excepting the iijiper part of the throat, which is grayish-white ; upper parts in gene- ral blackish-brown, marked with numerous spots of brownish- white, there being several along the margins of each feather; wings and rump somewhat lighter; upper tail coverts and tail baired with durk-brown and olivaceous-gray ; • primaries and their coverts blackish-brown, all with transverse yellowish-gi*ay markings on the inner web ; the shaft of the first quill wliite — of the rest brown ; breast and abdomen grayish- white, tlie sides tinged with cream-color, and barred with grayish-brown ; bill rather more tlian twice the length of the liead, of a brownish- black color — at the base of the lower mandible, flesh-colored. Length eighteen inches, wing nine and a half, " This bird arrives on Long Island in the month of May. It frequents the marshes and muddy flats, feeding on worms and minute shell-fish. With us, it is not so abundant as the long- billed species, with which it sometimes associates. Early in June it moves on to the North, where it passes the season of reproduction ; in the latter part of August, while journeying southward, it again makes its appearanc(! on the salt marshes ; and sometimes it frequents the uplands, where it procures ber- ries and insects of various kinds, on which it grows very fat — though in general its flesh is not well flavored. " The flight of the Hudsonian Curlew is easy and steady ; it obeys the fowler's whistle, and presents an excellent mark. This bird is remarkable for sympathizing with its wounded ''jmpanions — a trait of character so proverbial in the Long- billed Curlew. " Occasionally stragglers are observed to linger behind until the early part of November ; but in general, all have left for winter quarters by the middle of October. The name general- ly given to it by our gunners, is ' Short-billed' or ' Jack Curlew.' " BAY SNIPE. 43 No. 3. Esquimaux Curlew — " Doe. Bird"— "Fates." — Nume- nius Borealis. Nuineiiius borealis, Bouap. Syn. Nuineuius boroalis, Esquimaux Curlew, Sw. &, Rich. Esquimaux Curlew, Nuiiieiiius borealis, Nutt. Mau. Esquimaux Curlew, Nuineuius borealis, Aud. Oru. Uiog. " Specijic Character. — Bill along the gap about two inches and a quarter; tarsi one inch and live-eighths; upper parts dusky- brown with pale yellowish-white, marked all over with i)ale reddish-brown. Adult with a line of white from the bill to the eye ; eyelids white ; upper part of the head dusky, spotted in front with gi'ayish-wiiite, a medial band of the same color ; throat white ; neck and breast yi'llowish-gray, with longitudi- nal markings of dusky on the former, pointed s])ots of the same color on the latter ; abdomen dull yellowish-white ; flanks barred with brown; lower tail coverts the same as the abdo- men ; tail and upper tail coverts barred with pale reddish-brown and dusky, tipped with yellowish-white ; upper parts brownish, the feathers tipped with pale reddish-brown, the scapulars mar- gined and tipped with lighter ; primaries dark-brown, margined internally with lighter — the first shaft white, with the tip dusky — the rest brown. Length fourteen inches and a half, wing eight. "In New-Jersey, New- York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, this species is seen every season. It frequents the open grounds in the vicinity of the sea-coast, feeding on grasshoppers, insects, seeds, worms and berries. It arrives among us in the latter part of August, and remains until the first of November, when it assembles in flocks, and moves oITto its winter quarters which are said to be south of the United States. I have shot a few stragglers in this vicinity as late as the twentieth of Novem- ber. It occasionally associates with the Golden Plover. In the autumn it is generally in fine condition, and unlike the former two, its flesh is well flavored. In the vicinity of New- York it is known by the name of ' Futes' — in the Eastern States it is called ' Doe Bird.' It breeds on the barren grounds at the North." — Giraud's Birds of Lou f^ Island. 44 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. ■Hi I With this species, I conclude my notice of Shore Birds, or Bay Snipe, as they are usually and most barbarously termed ; there being but two birds out of the whole number the " Rcd- brcasted Snipe," which is very common, and the "Semipal- mated Snipe" or " Willet," which belong to the species of Snipes, or can be so termed, even by a liberal courtesy. Be- fore proceeding, however, to enter upon the mode of taking these little waders, I shall proceed for the sake of unifonnity to the ornithological descriptions of the Swan, Geese, and Sea Ducks. WILD FOWL. IJ WILD FOWL. WILD SWANS. THE AMERICAN WILD SWAN. Oygnus Americanus — Sharpless. — American Journal of Sciencc3 and Arts. " Male, 53.84. " Common during winter, in the middle Atlantic districts especially on Chesapeake Bay. Not seen south of Carolina Columbia river ; breeds in the Fur Countries. " Adult male : "Bill rather longer than the head, large, liigher than broad at the base, gradually becoming more depressed. Upper mandi- ble with the dorsal line concave at the commencement, then descending and very slightly convex to beyond the nostrils, at the end decurved ; the ridge broad and flat at the base, gradu- ally narrowed, convex toward the end, the sides nearly erect, and somewhat concave at the base, gradually sloping, and toward the end convex, tlie margins nearly parallel until toward the end, when they widen a little ; the tip rather ab- I'uptly rounded, unguis truncate, obovate. Nostril medial, elliptical, direct, near the ridge ; nasal groove elliptical. Lower mandible flattened, slightly recurved ; the angle long and rather narrow, the edges parallel, the tip truncate, the unguis some- what triangular. " Head of moderate -^ize, oblong, compressed. Neck very long and slender. B4f»4y very large. Feet short, stout, placed FHANK rORESTEH'« F.ELD SPORTS. fthcbody; tibia bare for an incl. a little behind the centre of tj^o - y ^^^^ ^^^^^.^^^^^ , and a half, and -t^culatod J ^ . ^^.,,,,, of wbicb the pressed, reticulated all -;;^^. ;t:,ri. scutellate abovc.granu- luterior are larger; ^>-;^;- ^ f„ , ,,;„ U.e tarsus, the outer a ,„e beneath. Anteno toe 1 n ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^.^^. ^^ , V,Ue .hort.r than the ^^^ ^^ ^,,i, ^.tent. connected by second joint. Bcut.llate .n the « ^.^^^ ^ ^^ .^^ ^ ,v.bs of which the n>argu.e^^^^^^ ^^^.^.^_ ^lavvs of gU, a.e inner w.th a ^^^^^^ .eute.that of the n^.ddle tnoderut.- bi/.o, arched, stion , too with the inner edge dilated. ^^^^^^^^ . ^^^^^^^^, ^f ..riumage full, compact abve^b wings ample, ,,e*head and neck -f ^/-^ .^^'o an inch shorter than the convex -, the first qudl -f " -^™ ,^ ,,,, ^nrd ; .he first, second, which -longest, but B a cd. ^^^^^^.^^ ^^,„g, second and third cut - - ^^^ j ,^^ „,,, mounded, of twenty broad and rounded, ^ail J Y ^.^^^^^.^^ .^,, „, ,„ch and V,voad rounded leathers, o^ J^'^ ^ ^he bill and the bare nh>e-twelfths ;^'">-^;;X ^ f btk, with an orange oblong space on the lore pa t ot tl>e he ^.^^^^^ ^^.j^,^^.,,. „,„ch. •Ltch from the antenor angle -^^'^^^J; i,i, brown; feet lie and inside of mouth yf^^^^^ p,,. white. .„d claws black / ^'^^'^^^ ^ - '^^ «^ -"«^' ^?' ' T .. Length to etui of ta 1. .3 ual . ^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^.,j,,, 4; end of claws, 58; extent of ^v"'g«. ^^^ ,^^.^^,e, 22^; ^sus. 4;^ ; fVom the tip totlje^ye. 4.^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ,,n, 71 , hind toe. .^-ts claw, . . ^^^^^ ^ ^^ ^,^,, .^, i. ; third toe, ;,r-ts claw, t. . * ^,^^ ^4 ibs. weight. 101 IbB. ^"'•^^''^Vtn^^ll ." ut "t^ «-^^^^- . . .. The female is somewha smallei ^^ ^^^ ^^^^.^^. .. Tbe young i« its Hrst V^^^ ;^,^ ,f the head th.ged erav paler beneath, the lore and uppe . ^^^^ SJod. The bm reddish ^«^-c..-;;;;X_^,ba^^^ «^^'- ^'"^^''T.^iXli^--^'^^^^ ennrely disappear WILD FOWL. •17 " I have never observed any Swans of this species along the Atlantic coasts, or on the rivers that open upon it, beyond Cape Hatteras in North Carolina ; and although they are very nu- merous on the waters of Chesapeake Bay, and the streams adjacent, as well as in other parts of the middle districts, I am yet of the opinion that the great body of them sjjend the winter about the Columbia River, extendinir their autumnal migrations westward, along the shores of the Pacific Ocean into California, and that the columns formed by these birds when about to leave tlieir breeding grounds in high latitudes, divide into par- ties, of which the less numerous bands make their way from certain points as yet unknown, toward our middle districts, while the n-st are perhaps following the valleys of the Rocky Moun- tains. " When travelling to a distance they proceed at a great lieigli!, with a steady and well sustained flight, though by no means so rapid as the Trumpeter Swan, this difl'erence proba- bly arising from the greater weight and alar extent of the latter. They usually move In long lines forming the acute angle of a baseless triangle, the leader often changing his position and falling into the rear. On several occasions 1 have seen seven or eight leading the long single files behind them in a kind of disorderly crowded manner, which was continued until the birds were out of sight. " Not having had sufficient opportunities of studying the habits of these birds on the waters of the Chesapeake, where they are most numerous, while in the middle districts, I here pre- sent yovi with an account of them, kindly transmitted to me by Dr. .SharpU'ss, of Philiidelphia. " About the first of September, the Swans leave the shores of the Polar Sesi. according to Franklin, and resort to the lakes and rivers in and about Hudson's Bay, (GO dega.,) whore they re- main, preparing for a departure for the winter, until October, when they collect in flocks of twenty or thirty, and seizing favor- able weather, they mount high in the air, form a j>rolonged wedge, and with loud screams depart for more genial climes ■11 krf "f paANK FOHESTEK'S FIELD SPOUTS. . • nnn .ml ttii<^ratlon or ehorter ex- mcn making either the. «---- \:.°,,,, ^o you all come peditions, an occasional scream eq ^^ ^,^„,, i„,„.ecl lately L. behind r issues from the ^^^^^ ^^ ,„ . ,nVwell' voa - •espondod to hy some P-^-J^J ^^^^ becomes fatigued .uh eration. When the leader o t pa J^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^ .^ ^^^^g,. Us extra duty "^■^""'"S t^f '"'„,,„ted, as they sometimes are bor takes his place, ^^^^^.^a ah. ^ith their diminished and several thousand feet above ^^ « ^^^^^V ^^^ ^,, ,,ear blue of hea- aelicato outline hardly P^^P;^' ^^"^ ,,uted by distance, and ven. this harsh sound, -f-^;"^^". assumes a supenvatural „ecksprotrude.and V^^-^:^Z: ^o^^ ^-..^^^' ^^^^ ages to the prolonged P<-' ^ ^/"^ ,, au-ough so few de- ^. When thus in motion. ^1^^^ ^ S ^ .^^^ they appear g,.ees of the circle, that, mdess ^^^ ,,om the heavy, semi- :i„.ost quiescent hemg widely d^e^^^^^^ ^ben migrating with circular sweep ot the Go se i ^^^^^^^ ^,^^^ .^ ^^^^ ^,. ,,,. a mclerate wind in his '-^^'^J" ^^.^^ „Uos or more an horn-. tainly travels at ^'^ ;-^'i:il':,''^Ooo.., and found one mile 1 bave often timed the flight of tl«3 ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^.^.^^^^ ^^ , a minute a common ^''^vf^'^^J ^. „ear each o'her, change of ^-^-8-6-;^ j^^^ ^ which I have often seen, the Dw doubh! velocity. ,,.„„r,o„»,be northern parts of America .. The Swans, in travelhng from he .^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ,o.beir winter ^^^'^^^^jZl^J;!.^.^ -rely foUow above the highest peaks of h^ A g ^_^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^,,^ ^^^^ WILD FOWL. 4? have been seen following the coast in but very few instances. They arrive at their winter homes in October and November and immediately take possession of their regular feeding grounds. They generally reach these places in the night, and the first sig- nal of their arrival at their winter abode is a general burst of melody, making the shores ring for several hours with their vo- ciferating congratulations, while making amends for a long fast, and pluming tlieir deranged feathers. From these localities they rarely depart, unless driven farther south by intensely cold weather, until their vernal excursion. When the spring arrives, a similar collection of forces as at the north, takes place in March, and after disturbing the tranquil bosom of the water for a night, by incessant washing and dressing, and alarming the quiet neighborhood by a constant clatter of consulting tongues, they depart for the north about daylight with a gei\eral Jcu-dc-joie of unmusical screams. " The Chesapeake Bay ia a great resort for Swans during the winter, and whilst there they foi-m collections of from one to five hundreds on the flats near the western shores, and i-xtend from the outlet of the Susquehanna River almost to the Rip-Raps. The connecting streams also present fine feeding grounds. They always select places where they can reach their food by tie length of their necks, as they have never, so far as I can learn, been seen in this part of the world to dive under water, either for food or safety. Hearne says that, at Hudson's Bay, ' by diving and other manoeuvres it is impossible to take tliem by hand while moulting.' I have often seated myself for houra within a short distance of several hundred Swans, to watch their habits and manners, and never saw one pass entirely under the water, though they will keep the head beneath the surface for five minutes at a time. " Tlie food they are most partial to is the canvass-back grass — Valisneria Americana — worms, insects, and shell-fish ; never, I believe, touching fisii, however hardly pressed for support. The Geese and Swans frequently feed, but never fly, together. " These birds are so e.\ceedingly watchful, that if there are VOL. 11. J m v; Ill 50 ^vill cenerally be on l,n f...- 1 — r" o" e- made Wove tl,e m„a„ a. .. However mucl. n.,«o .«« ' f^ ^^ _^^^ „„„ea, a .la,™ occurs *ere H perlect -^=«;>:„„„e, „„e„, if *e case e.7 cloBoly followed »ua >^ ™ -W ^^^^ „;„, , ,..,eam I .,V»l,tin" particularly amon,, ^,^j.„ wise hurt, a suio' °' I an. not positively assured. ,, rf„„ r«a- "fThTswan re„ulres «- "' " J ;"; , ving aV.out o„e- ■, "„f sae and plumage, .ho f'"?'^, J", fo„,her» of a deep- S.t:.gnit* of ,l,e *^;;f, r::^, e^mmed and l. , iM. The smallest tewan J. ... pounds. Its ''twl^iuly presence, -'^W « - ^ „ ,.„, ,„„„. ;:n,ro^asvery.^ep,,.in.d,and«W^^ vearlms. *"^ ^ , ,„ u\n was of a, dmy-vvm'^ , ^ 1 1.,1-Ij but whose miiw"" time -when my WILD FOWL. 51 neck, which are the last parts to be forsaken by tne color. Swans of the sixtli year have assumed all the cliaracters of the adult, and very old birds have a hard protuberance on the bend of the last joint of the wing. When less than six years old, these birds are very tender and delicious eating, having the color and flavor of the goose ; the latter quality, however, being more concentrated and luscious. Heai'ne considers a Swan, ' when roasted, equal in flavor to young heifer beef, and the cygnets are very delicate.' As tliese birds live to a gi-eat age, they grow more tougli and dry as they advance, the patriarchs being as unmasticaMe and unsavory as the cygnets are tender and delightful. " There are many modes practised in the United States of destroying these princely ornaments of the water. In shooting them while flying with the wind, the writer just mentioned declares ' they are tlie most difficult bird to kill I know, it being frequently necessary to take siglit ten or twelve feet before the bill.' This I should consider an unnecessary allowance, unless driven by a hurricane, but, on ordinary occasions, the bill is aimed at, and if going with a breeze at a long shot a foot before the bill would be quite sufficien'. The covering is so extremely thick on old birds, that the largest drop sliot will rarely kill, unless the Swan is struck in the neck or under the winuf, and I have often seen large masses of feathers torn from them, with- out for an instant impeding their progress. " When wounded in the wing alone, a largo Swan will readily beat off a dog, and is more than a match for a man in four foot water, a stroke of the wing having broken tlie arm, and the powerful feet almost obliterating the face of a good sized duck shooter. They are often killed by riff,! bal's thrown from the shore into the feeding column, and as a ball will ricochet on the water for several hundred yards, a wing may be disabled at the distance of half a mile. " These birds are brought within shooting range by sailing down wind upon them whilst feeding, and as they rise against the wind, and cannot leave the water for fifteen or twenty yards, m 'fr*^ 52 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. f 1 1 against which they strike their enormous feet and wings most furiously, great advantage is gained in distance. They should he allowed on all occasions to turn the side, for a breast shot rarely succeeds in entering. " When two feeding coves are separated by a single point, by disturbing the Swans on either occasionally, they will pass and repass very closely to the projection of land, and usually taking as they do the straight line, each gunner, to prevent disputes, indicates the bird he will shoot at. " In winter, boats covered with pieces of ice, the sportsmen being dressed in white, are paddled or allowed to float during the night into the midst of a flock, and they have oftentimes been killed by being knocked on the head and neck by a pole. There is, however, much danger in this mode, as others may be engaged in like manner, and shooting at a short distance, the persons might not bo readily distinguished from the Swans. These birds seem well aware of the range of a gun, and I have followed them in a skiff" for miles, driving a body of several hundreds before me, without the possibility of getting quite within shooting distance. " When more than one person is shooting, it is usual for each to select a particular Swan, and if there be not enough for all, two will take a particularly good bird, and, if it be killed, will decide its possession afterward, by some play of chance. Few are willing to take the first bird, even though their position of last in the direction of flight would compel them according to usage to do so, not only from the difficulty and uselcssness of killing the old ones, but because there is much less chance of a stray shot from a neighbor's gun assisting in the destruction. "In the autumn of 1829, the writer, with another person was on Abbey Island, where seven Swans were approaching the point in one line, and three others at a short distance behind them. The small group appeared exceedingly anxious to pass the larger, and as they doubled the point at about sixty yards' distance, the three formed with the second bird of the larger Hock a square of less tlian three feet. At this moment both a3 he nd ass da' get oth WILD FOWL. .^3 guns were discharged, and three Swans were killed, and th« ibuilh so much injured that he left the flock and reached the water at a short ' .ance in the bay ; but it being nearly dark his direction was lost. These, with another that had been killed within an hour, and three which were subsequently obtained, were all of less than five years of age, and averaged a weight of eighteen pounds. " The Swans never leave the open shores of the bay for the side stniaras, and the Geese rarely through the day, though they often retire to the little inlets to roost or feed at night. Few of these large game are found, after their regular settlement above Spesutic Island, but lie on the flats in mingled masses of from fifty to a hundred, down the western shores, even as far as the Potomac. During a still night, a few Swans may often be seen asleep in the middle of the bay, surrounded by a group of far more watchful Geese ; and the writer paddled at day-break one morning to within ten feet of an enormous sleeping Swan, who had probably de[)ended for alarm on the wary Geese by which he had been surrounded, but which, as we approached, swam away. By an unforeseen occurrence, when a few seconds more Wf)uld have enabled us to stun him by a blow, he became alarmed, and started in a direction that prevented a probable chance of killing, from our position and the totteiing nature of the skiff." — Audubon's Birds of America. THE TRUMPETER SWAN. Cijgnm Buccinator; Richardson. "Adult, 68; wing, 21; young, 52.^, 91. " Breeds from North California; northward. Fur Countries. Abundant during the winter on the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and in Texas. Never seen eastward of South Carolina. " Adult male : " Bill longer than the liead, higher than broad at the base, I ffi: F 64 FRANK FORESTERS FIELD SPORTS. h 11 ';: depressed, and a lit'.le widened toward the end, rounded Rt the tip. Upper mandible with dorsal line sloping, the ridge very broad at the base, with a large depression, narrowed be- tween the nostrils, coi.vex toward the end, the sides nearly erect at the base, gradually becoming more horizontal and convex toward the end ; the sides soft and thin, with forty -five tranverse little elevated lamellae internally ; the unguis obovate. Lower mandible narrow, flattened, with the angle very long, rather narrow, anteriorly rounded, the sides convex, the edges erect, inclinate, with about twenty-six external lamella?, and about se- venty above, the unguis obovate-triangular. Dorsal groove elliptical, sub-basal, covered by the soft membrane of the bill ; nostrils sub-medial, longitudinal, placed near the ridge, elliptical, pen'ious. " Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed ; neck extreme- ly long and slender. Body very large, compact, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed a little behind the centre of the body ; legs bare an inch and a half above the joint. Tarsus short, a little compressed, covered all round with angular scales, of which the posterior are extremely small. Hind toe extremely small, with a very narrow membrane ; third toe longest, fourth very little shorter, second considerably shorter; anterior toes covered with angular scales for nearly half the length, scutellato in the rest of their extent, and connected by broad reticulated entire membranes. Claws rather small, strong, arched, com- pressed, rather obtuse, that of the middle toe much larger, with a dilated thin edge. " A portion of the forehead about half an inch in length, and the space intervening between the bill and eye are bare. Plu- mage dense, soft and elastic ; on the head and neck the featiiers oblong, acuminate ; on the other parts in general, broadly ovate, rounded ; on the back short and compact. Wings broad and long, the anterior prominence of the first phalangeal bono very prominent ; primaries curved, stiff, tapering to an obtuse point ; the second longest, exceeding the first by half an inch, and the third by a quarter of an inch, secondaries very broad ' .1 ** The Trumpeter Swans make their appearance on the lower portions of the waters of the Ohio, about the end of Octoher. They throw themselves at once into the larger ponds, or lakes, at no great distance from the river, giving a marked preference to those which are closely suiTounded by dense tall cane-brakes, and there remain until the water is closed by the ice, when they are forced to proceed southward. During mild winters I have seen Swans of this species in the ponds about Henderson, until the beginning of March, but only a few individuals, which may have staid there to recover from their wounds. When the cold became intense, most of those which visited the Ohio would re- move to the Mississippi, and proceed down that stream, as the severity of the weather increased, or return if it diminished ; for it has appeared to me that neither very intense cold, nor great heat, suit them so well as a medium temperature. I have traced the winter migrations of this species so far southward as Texas, where it is abundant at times. " At New Orleans, where I made a drawing of the young bird here described, the Ti-umpeters are frequently exposed for sale in the markets, being procured on the ponds of the inte- rior, and on the great lakes leading to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This species is unknown to my friend, the Rev. John Bachman, who, during a residence of twenty years in South Carolina, never saw or heard of one of these, whereas in hard winters the Ci/gnus Americanus is not uncommon, although it d(ies not often proceed farther southward than that State. The waters of the Arkansas, and its tributaries, are annually sup- plied with Trumpeter Swans ; and the largest individual which I have examined, was shot on a lake near the junction of that river with the Mississippi. It measured nearly ten feet in alar extent, and weighed above thirty-eight pounds. " The flight of the Trumpeter Swan is firm, at times greatly elevated and sustained. It passes through the air by regular beats, in the same manner as Geese, the neck stretched to its full length, as are the feet, which project beyond the tail. When passing low, I have frequently thought that I heard a rustling » 3 % WILD FOWL. 67 sound from tlie motion of the feathers of their wings. If bound to a distant place, they form themselvp" 'a angular lines, and probably the leader of the flock is one of the oldest of the males ; but of this I am not at all sure, as I have seen at the head of the line a gray bird, which must have been a young one of that year. " This Swan feeds principally by partially immersing the body, and extending the neck under water, in the manner of fresh water Ducks, and some species of Geese, when the feet are often seen working in the air, as if to aid in preserving the balance. Often, however, it resorts to the land, and there picks at the herbage, not sideways as Geese do, but more in the manner of Ducks and poultry. Its food consists of roots of dif- ferent vegetables, leaves, seeds, various aquatic insects, land snails, small reptiles, and quadrupeds. The flesh of a Cygnet is pretty good eating, but that of an old bird is dry and tough. " Dr. Richardson infoiTOS us, that it ' is the most common Swan in the interior of the fur countries. It breeds as far South as latitude 61°, but principally within the Arctic Circle; it precedes the Goose a few days in its migrations." — Audubon's Birds of America. m WILD GEESE. THE CANADA GOOSE. Anas Canadensis ; Wikon. Anser Canadensis ; Bon. Syn. Anser Canadensis; Sw, if Rich. F. Bar. A7neric. — Vulgo, The Wild Goose. r ts 111 " Male, 43.65. Female, 41. " Breeds sparingly from the Mississippi to Nova Scotia, abundantly in Labrador, and farther North. In the interior on the Missouri, and across to the Columbia River, abundant. Mi- grates m winter." — Audubon's Birds of America. I I 58 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. > I "!' 11 ! ! i " Sj)ccijic Character. — Length of bill from the corner of tlie mouth to the end two inches and three-sixteenths ; length of taisi two inches and seven-eighths ; length from the point of the bill to the end of tail about forty inches ; wing eighteen; the head and greater portion of the neck black; cheeks and throat white. Adult with the head, greater part of the neck, prima- ries, rump and tail black ; back and wings brown, margined with paler-brown ; lower part of the neck and under plumage whitish-gray ; flanks darker-gray ; cheeks and throat white, as are the upper and under tail coverts. The plumage of the female rather duller. " Late in autumn, especially when the wind is from the north- east, the Canada Geese are seen in our section of country, sailing high in the air, making their accustomed tour at that season. Impelled by nature, they quit their northem abode, and hazai'd an escape from the artifices of man, sooner than per- ish amid the icy barrens of the frozen regions. When migrating, many flocks unite and fonn a vast column, each band having its chosen leader. They generally continue flying during the night, but occasionally alight and await the day. Before doing so, however, their experienced pioneers survey the space below, and select a place favorable for food and safety. Sentinels are then appointed from among the ganders to sound the alarm should an enemy appear. I have seen them adopt the same precaution when sanding in large flocks by day. Those sepa- rate from the main body would move about with heads erect, ready to catch the first sign of inti'usion ; ' after stiiitting their hour' they would return to the main body, their places being im- mediately supplied by others. I have often been disappointed by such a movement, supposing it to be a signal for flight, looked well to my gun, but after waiting a few moments in suspense, discovered it to be merely a cliange of guard. "The hoarse honking of the gander is so familiar to the inha- bitants of our country, that it is impossible for them to arrive among us without making their visit known. All welcome their return ; the once keen eye of the aged gunner again sparkles it; 1 WILD FOWL. t9 as lie beholds their grand and lofty flight. The firelock, that useful piece of furniture which ornaments all our farm-liouses, is immediately brought into requisition, and the village store- keeper is industriously employed in answering the clemarid for ' single B.'s. The report of g\\>u reverberntes throni^li t;,o coun. try, but still these sagacious birds ktr p ■>■^ t'i'iir sceai'.y i <.\irse ; occasionally a single feather may be .eeu siovly d' mending to the earth, as if to inform the eager gunue/.- of tlicir nicely cal- culated distance, or perchance aftc the >.'ud ri pf-rt of somu well-mettled piece, a single bird moy 1)<^ seen ;e t%in.' .he f.ook, its death-knell sounded by its mo!..) fortuTiatp, but terrified c m- panions. " But not so with the practised bay-gunner. Or. the vef un; of the Geese his prospects brighten ; he looks up ui t'dom as doLtora returned to cancel a long-standing obligation ; 'le h astcs not his ammunition on space; he has watcbx^d d.oir fl:j:,lil. r.^id dis- covered their favorite sanding place ; the >ong-i!i>g]ectod Iccojs are placed in his skiff, and before dnylight has appeared, ha Js pulling his way across the rough bay with gloiious/ anticipations of profit. On gaining the desired point, he pucs ou^ his decoj.?, sinks a box in the sand, and there lies concealed. Af^ 'hey np- proach, his ket.i eye glances quickly over his trusty g\iA, and ere a moment elapses death is among thnm. "When wounded, they have the pov/ur ofsinL'n 7 themselvti in the water, leaving their bib out. In this situation they wiU remain a considerable length ,)f time. Thy deadbady of a Goose, when lying on the water, wiH float iwo-lhirds out. In stoi-my weather they fly low , v. hf n it is very foggy, they fre- quently become confused and alight on thu ground, "The Canada Gee.-i remain with us until our bays are frozen, and return with the disappearance of ice in the spring , at this season their stay is short. Early in April they collect in large flocks, and almost simultaneously move off. Their food consists of sedge roots, marine plants, berries, and herbage of most kinde. In winter they are common on the lakes in the neigh- borhood of the lower Mississippi, where I was infoimed by the 60 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 11 r I h\ i; 'it 4' m !r inhabitants that a few stragglers remain with them during summer. " This species is not the origin of the Domestic Goose, as is by some supposed, the genealogy of which is said to be traced to the Bean Goose* of Europe." — Giraud's Birds of Long Island. " This is the common Wild Goose of the United States, uni- versally known over the wliole country, whose regular periodical migiations are the sure signals of returning spring, or approach- ing winter. The tracts of the vast migratory journeys are not confined to the seacoast, or its vicinity. In their aerial passage to and from the North, these winged pilgrims pass over the in- terior on both sides of the mountains, as far West, at least, as the Osage River ; and I have never yet visited any quarter of the country, where the inhabitants are not familiarly acquainted with the regular passing and repassing of Wild Geese. The general opinion here is, that they are on the way to the lakes to breed ; but the inhabitants on the confines of the great lakes that separate us from Canada, are equally ignorant with our- selves of the particular breeding-places of these birds. There the journey North is but commencing, and how far it extends, it is impossible for us at present to ascertain, from our little ac- quaintance with those frozen regions. They were seen by Hearno in large flocks within the arctic circle, and were then pursuing their way still further North. Captain Phipps speaks of seemg Wild Geese feeding at the water's edge on the dreary coast of Spitsbergen, in lat. 80"^, 27'. It is highly probable that they extend their migrations under the very Pole itself, amid tlio silent desolations of unknown countries, shut out since cre- ation to the prying eye of man by everlasting and insuperable barriers of ice. That such places abound with suitable food, we cannot for a moment doubt, while the absence of the great destroyer, rain, and the splendor of a perpetual dry May, ren- der such regions the most suitable for their purpose. Having * Not to the Denn Goose but to the Gruy-Iug, cotninouly known as tho Wild Gooso— i'oi« aauvage. WILD FOWL. 61 fulfilled the great law of nature, the npproaching rigor of that dreary climate oblige these vast congregated flocks to steer for the most gonial regions of the South. And no sooner do they arrive at those countries of the earth, inhabited by man, than carnage and slaughter is commenced on their ranks. The Eng- lish at Hudson's Bay — says Pennant^lepend greatly on Geese, and in favorable years kill three or four thousand, and barrel them up for use. They send out their servants, as well as In- dians, to shoot these birds on their passage. It is in vain to pursue them ; they therefore form a row of huts, made of boughs, at musket-shot distance from each other, and place them in a line across the vast marshes of the country. Each stand of hovel, as it is called, is occupied by a single person. These attend the flight of the birds, and on their approach, mimic their cackle so well, that the Geese wil' answer, and wheel and come nearer the stand. The hunter keeps motionless, and on his knees, with his gun cocked, the whole time, and never fires until he has seen the eyes of the Geese. He fires as they are going from him, then picks up another guji that lies by liim, and discharges that. The Geese which he has killed, he sets upon sticks, as if alive, to decoy others ; he also makes artificial birds for the same purpose. In a good day, for they fly in very uncertain and unequal numbers, a single Indian will kill two hundred. Notwithstanding every species of Goose has a diffe- rent call, yet the Indians are admirable in the imitations of every one. The autumnal flight lasts from the middle of August, to the middle of October. Those which are taken in this season, when the frosts begin, are preserved in their feathers, and left to be frozen, for the fresh provisions of the winter stock. The feathers constitute an article of commerce, and are sent to Eng- land. The venial flight of these Geese lasts from the middle of April until the middle of May. Their first appearance coin- cides with the thawing of the swamps, when they are very lean. Their arrival from the South is impatiently awaited, — it is the harbinger of the spring, and the month named by the Ii. dians the Goose Moon. They appear usually at their settle- I m ' ■ !' ^■1 62 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. ments about St. George's Day, O. S., and fly northward to nes- tle in security. They prefer islands to the continent, as farther from the haunts of man. After such prodigious havoc as thus appoars to he made among those birds, and the running the gauntlet, if I may so speak, for many hundi'ods of miles through such destructive fires, no wonder they should have become more scarce, as well as shy, by the time they reach the shores of the United States. " Their first arrival on the coast of New Jersey is early in Octolier, and their first numerous appearance is the sure prog- nostic of severe weathei*. Those which continue all winter, fre- quent the shallow bays and marsh islands, the principal food being the broad tender given leaves of a marine plant, which gi'ows on stones and shells, and is usually called sea-cabbage ; and also the roots of the sedge, which they are frequently ob- seiTed in the act of tearing up. Every few days iliey make an excursion to the inlets on the beach for gravel. They cross in- discriminately over land or water, generally taking the nearest course to their object, differing in this respect from the Brant, which will often go a great way round by water, rather than cross on the land. They swim well, and if wing-broke, dive and go a long way under water, causing the sportsman a great deal of fatigue before he can kill them. Except in very calm weather, lliey rarely sleep on the water, but roost all night in the marshes. When the shallow bays are frozen, they seek the mouth of iidets near the sea, occasionally visiting the air-holes in the ice ; but these bays are seldom so completely frozen, as to prevent them from feeding on the bars. " The flight of the Wild Geese is heavy and laborious, gene- rally in a straight line, or in two lines approximating to a point, thus > ; in both cases, the van is led by on old gander, who every now and then pijies his well-knf)wn 7/w«/-, as if to ask how they come on, and the honk of ' all's well' is generally refunied by some of the party. Their course is in a straight line, with the exception of the undulations of the flight. When bewil- dered in foggy weatlier, they appear sometimes to be in great WTLTi FOWL. 63 ) distress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a consi- derable time, over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions, should they approach the eartli, and alight, which they sometimes do, to rest and recollect themselves, the only hospitality they meet with, is death and destruction from a whole neighborhood, already in arms for their ruin. Wounded 'xeese have, in numerous instancen, been completely domesti- cated, and readily pair with the tame Gray Geese. The off- Bpring are said to be larger than either, but the characteristic mark of the Wild Goose still predominate. The guimers on the sea-shore here, have long been in the pi-actice of taming the wounded of both sexes, and have sometimes succeeded in get- ting them to pair and produce. The female always seeks out the most solitary place for her nest, not far from the water. On the approach of every spring, however, these birds discover symptoms of gi-eat uneasiness, frequently looking up into the air, and attempting to go off. Some whose wings have been closely cut, have travelled on foot in a northern direction, and have been found at the distance of several miles iVom home. They hail every flock that passes overhead, and the salute is sure to be returned by the voyagers, who are only prevented from alighting among them by the presence and habitations of man. The gunners take one or two of these domesticated Geese with them, to those parts of the marshes on which the wild ones are accustomed to fly, and c(mcealing themselves within gun-shot, wait for a flight, which is no sooner pei.\;ivcd by the decoy Geese, than they begin calling nloiul, until the whole flock approaches so near as to give them an opportunity of discharging two, and sometimes three, loaded muskets among them, by which great havoc is made. " The Wild Goose, when in good order, weighs from ten to twelve, and sometimes fourteen pounds. They are sold in the Philadelphi;i markets at from sovetity-five cents to one dollar each, and are estimated to yield half a pound o** feathers a-piece. which produces twenty-five or thirty cents more. The Canada Goose is now domesticated in numerous quarters of the country. m iifi I ■']' 64 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. :'' i'. i illi and is remarked for being extremely watchful, and more sensi- ble of approaching changes in the atmosphere, than the common Gray Goose. In England, France, and Germany, they have also been long ago domesticated. BufTon, ir his account of this bird, observes : * at Versailles, where they breed familiarly with the Swans, they were oftener on the grassy margins, than in the water,' and adds, ' There is at present a great number of them on the magnificent pools that decorate the charming gardens of Chantilly.' Thus has America already added to th** stock of domestic fowls, two species, the Turkey and the Canada Goose. The strong disposition of the wounded Wild Goose to migrate to the North in spring, has been already taken notice of. In- stances have occuiTed, where, the wounds having healed, they have actually succeeded in mounting into the high regions of the air, and joined a passing party to ^he North ; and extraordi- nary as it may appear, I am well assured by the testimony of several respectable persons, who have been eye-witnesses to the fact, that they have also been known to return again in the succeeding autumn to their former habitation. These accounts are strongly con-oborated by a letter which I sometime ago re- ceived from an obliging correspondent at New- York, which I shall here give at large, pennitting him to tell his story in his own way, and conclude my history of this species. " ' Mr. Piatt, a respectable fai'mer on Long Island, being out shooting in one of the bays, which in that part of the country abound with water-fowl, wounded a "Wild Goose. Being wing- tipped, and unable to fly, he caught it, and brought it home alive. It proved to bo a female, and turning it into his yard, with a flock of tame Goese, it soon became quite tame and familiar, and in a little time its wounded wing entirely healed. In the following spring, when the Wild Geese migrate to the north- ward, a flock passed over Mr. Piatt's barn-yard, and just at that moment their leader happening to sound his bugle note, our Goose, in whom its new habits and enjoyments had not quite extinguished the love of liberty, and remembering tlie well- known sound, spread ita wings, mounted into the air, joined the M' ii I 1 fW5 .1 ,■ 1.. ;• .1 Ml ■■' ir; •■. ! r IT .(■'i':i\\ f .T^Ul-...l.l.H!r>- I 1 ii: ■;.^ f'f i WILD FOWL. 65 travellers, and soon disappeared. In the succeeding autumn, the Wild Geese, as was usual, returned from the northward in great numbers, to pass the winter in our bays and rivers ; Mr. Pliitt happening to be standing in his yard, when a flock passed directly over his bam. At that instant ho observed three Geese detach themselves from the rest, and after wheeling round seve- ral times, alighted hi the middle of the yard. Imagine his sur- prise and pleasure, when, by certain well-i'emcmbered signs, he recognized in one of these three Geese, his long-lost fugitive. It was she, indeed ; she had travelled many hundred miles to the lakes — had there hatched and reared her offspring, and had now returned with her little family, to share the sweets of civi- lized life. The truth of the foregoing relation can be attested by many resjiectable people, to whom Mr. Piatt has related the circumstances, as above detailed. The birds were all living, and in his possession about a year ago, and had shown no disposi- tion whatever to leave him.' " — Wilson's American Ornithology. HUTCHINS' GOOSE. Anscr Hutcldnsii. Hutchins' Bcrnacle Goose ; Sw, 8f Rich. Hutch- ins' Goose, Anscr Hutv.hinsii; And, Orn. Biog. " Specific Character. — Bill from the corner of the mouth to the end, one inch and nine-sixteenths; length of tarsi, two inches and seven-sixteenths ; head and upper part of the nock black ; cheeks white. Adult with the bill black ; head and up- per part of the neck glossy black ; a white patch on the sides of the head and neck, similar to A. Canadensis ; upper parts brownish-gray, the feathers margined with paler ; lower parts pale grayish -brown, margined with yellowish-brown ; abdomen and lower tail coverts white ; tail of sixteen feathers, of a deep brown color, as are the primary quills ; feet and claws black. Length twenty-seven inches, wing sixteen. " At the eastern extremity of Long Island, this species is not VOL. II. 5 ii: mu ^!^ * (i| i f bb:; It i 'I' 66 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. uncommon. At IMontauk it is known by the name of ' Mud Goose,' and is freriuently observed in company with the pre- ceding species, to wliich, in the general color of the plumage, it bears a strong resemblance. In size it is much smaller, though larger than the ' Brant,' exceeding that species about three inches, and having the white patch on the sides of the head sim- ilar to the Canada Goose. " On the south shore of Long Island it is not known to the gunnei-s, though I have no doubt that it is frequently procured there, and from the close resemblance it beats in its general markings to the Canada Goose, is considered a vaiiety of that species. At some seasons it has been known to be quite abun- dant on the coast of Massachusetts, in the vicinity of Boston, and it has been shot on the Chesapeake. " Dr. Richardson states that it is well kno\\'n at Hudson's Bay, and that it is always found on the seacoast, feeding on marine plants, and the molusca which adhere to them, whence its flesh derives a strong fishy taste." — GirauiVs Birds of Long Island. BRENT GOOSE. Brant, Anas Bcmicfa ; Wih. Amer. Orn. Anscr Bemicla, Brent Goose ; Sw. If Rich. Brant or Brent Goose ; Nutt. Mann. " Specific Character. — Bill black ; head and neck all round black ; a patch on the sides of the neck white ; upper parts brownish-gray — the feathera margined with light giayish-brown; quills and primary coverts grayish-black ; fore part of breast, light brownish-gray, the feathers terminally margined with grayish-white ; abdomen and lower tail coverts white ; sides gray, the feathers rather broadly tipped with white. Length two feet, wing fourteen inches and a half. Female rather smaller. " The Brent Goose, or the ' Brant,' as it is more familiarly called, makes its appearance among us about the fifteenth of WILD FOWL. 67 October. Mr. Audubon found it breeding at Labrador, but waa prevented from securing its eggs in consequence c*' the great depth of the moss on which it was nesting. " In the spring and autumn it is very numerous on our coast, exceeding in number the Canada Geese and Dusky Ducks. Its manner of flying is different from that of the Canada Goose — moving in more compact bodies, less rapidly, and without seem- ing to have a chosen leader — that marked characteristic in the flight of the latter. While in our bays it appears inactive, sel- dom taking to wing unless disturbed by a passing boat or the near report of a gun. " The Brent rises slowly, and when on the winq;, moves slug- gishly for a short distance, and if not attracted by a distant flock, frequently returns to the place it had left. Its food con- sists of a marine plant — Zostera itmrina — commonly called ' eel- grass.' At low water it is seen industiiously at work, tearing up its favorite plant. After the tide has risen to such a height as to compel it to relinquish its vocation, it is seen drifting with the current, feeding sumptuously on the fruits of its labor. " I have examined a number of these birds, and in no instance have I found fish in them. " The Brent Geese are very fond of sanding, and resort to the bars for that pui-pose, at which places they ate killed in great numbers by the gunners who secrete themselves in exca- vations made in the sand. The bar known as ' Fire Island Bar,' on the south side of Long Island, is a celebrated place for procuring them. It is included in the Nicol's Patent, and rent- ed to two brothers by the name of Alliby at $120 per annum. I am informed that these men send to the New York market annually several hundred dollars' worth of birds, the larger proportion of w^hich is Brent. " This species, when passing over our bays, avoids as much as possible the points and * kussicks,'* which makes it very difii- ; m •"'Knssick,' ' liasaiok,' or 'tliiitoli,' — local terms used by gunners, ai^. nifying large tussocks of tall grass that occur in the bays." f mrr 68 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. I f ; M! Hi 'I! ■ Hi! 1; cult to be obtained, unless procured in the manner just men- tioned, or by shooting from ' batteries' anchored in the sliailow part of the bay. These batteries are constructed in the follow- ing manner — by making a box six feet long, two feet and a half wide, one foot deep, with the sides and ends shelving, on which sand is placed to imitate a bar, as well as to assist in sinking the ' machine,' as it is called — so that its uppermost edges may be about even with the surface of the water. The gunner, by ly- ing in the box on his back, is perfectly concealed, and having a large number of decoys around the battery, the deception is so perfect, that the birds often approach so near, as to give him an opportunity of discharging with effect two double-barrelled guns into a flock. Great havoc is made in this way, particu- larly among young birds. This mode of shooting requires two persons — one to shoot from the battery, the other to attend with a boat to collect the dead birds, and drive up flocks sitting on the bay. It is, however, objected to by many, they supposing it to be too destructive, as well as the means of driving from the bay those which escape. The Brent, especially, is a wanderer, seldom remaining longer than a few days in one place, under any circumstances — which induces many to suppose that they have a right to secure them in any way that fancy dictates. " In 1838 a law was passed in this State, prohibiting the use of batteries. For a short time it was respected — ^but the gun- ners who depend on water-fowl shooting for a great part of their living, considered it such an invasion of their rights, that they defied it ; at first shooting with masks, at the same time threatening to shoot the infoiiner, should one be found. They finally laid aside their masks, and the law became a dearl letter, and has since been repealed. A far greater evil is that of firing from boats, while sailing on their feeding grounds. After having been shot at in this way, I have seen them rise high in the air, and steer for the sea. I think it would be as well if the gunners generally would agree to abandon this unsportsmanlike practice. * The Brant never dives for its food ; but when wounded, it WILD FOWL. 69 13 not unusual foi* it to attempt escape by tliving. i^s it seldoin passes thirty or forty yards under watei', it is generally secured. With the lovers of water-fowl the Biant is highly esteemed. Even the adult birds are tender andjuicy, and free from a tisliy flavor, but at times, from the nature of its food, its flesh acquires a sedgy taste. It is considered superior for the table late in the spring. The epicure well knows the merits of the ' May Brant.' " In the plumage, there are no markings by which the sex can be distinguished. Many undertake to determine it by the white markings on the sides of the neck, supposing that charac- ter to be more ?ully developed on the neck of the male ; but this caimot be depended upon. I have frequently selected them by this supposed distinction, and on dissection the male and female organs have appeared without reference to such char- acter. " Their unwillingness to give up their wandering habits, makes it difficult to domesticate them. I have frequently tried it with young birds, having taken the precaution to cut off" a joint from one of their wings, thus rendering them incapable of flying; still they would wander to the creeks that lead to the bay, and doubtless have fallen easy game to some passing .sportsman. With a good deal of attention, particularly when associated with Canada Geese that have been domesticated, its native propensities are more easily subdued ; but in the domes- tic state they have never been known to breed. " The average weight of the Brent is four pounds. The adult can be distinguished to a certainty from the young, by its wings — which are entirely black, while those of the latter are broadly tipped with white. As soon as the ice begins to form in our bays, it retires southward. Returning in April, it con- tinues its visit until late in May, when they assemble at the ♦ great nursery' at the North." — Giraud's Birds of Lovg Island. " The Brent, or as it is usually written. Brant, is a bird well known on both continents, and celebrated in former times. 1 fflp^ I ■ i \ i '■ , ,1 i i| : ! , 1. I '■I 70 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. throughout Europe for the singularity of its origin, and the transformations it was supposed to undergo previous to its com- plete organization. Its first appearance was said to be in the form of a barnaclc-shell adhering to old water-sui'ked logs, trees, and other fricccs of wo )d taken from the sea. Of this Goose- bearing tree, Gerard in his Herbal, publislu.J in 1597, has given a formal account, and seems to have reserved it for the conclusion of Jiis work, as being the most wonderful of all he had to describe. The honest naturalist, however, though his belief was fixed, acknowledges that his own personal infoima- lion was derived from certain shells which adhered to a rotten tree. That he dragged it out of the sea between Dover and Romney in England, in some of which ho found living things without form or shape ; in others, which were nearer come to ripeness, living things ' that were very naked, in shape like a birde ; in others the birdes covered with soft dovvne, the shell half open, and the birde ready to fall out, which, no doubt, were tlie foules called Barnacles.' Ridiculous and chimerical as this notion was, it had many advocates, and was at that time as generally believed r d with about as much reason too, as the annual submersion i Swallows, bo tenaciously insisted on by some of our philosojdiors, and which, like the foraier absurdity, will in its turn disappear belbre the penetrating radiance and calm investigation of truth. " The Brant and Barnacle Goose, though generally reckoned two difTerent species, I conci-ive to b(! the same. Among those large flocks that arrive on our coast about the beginning of October, individuals frecpiently occur corresponding in their markings with tlint called the Baniacle of Europe, that is in being tlu! upper parts lighter and the front cheeks and chin whitish. These appear e\ idently a variety of the Brent, proba- bly young birds. What strengthens this lust opinion ••? the fact, that nono of them arc found so marked on their return north- ward in the spring. The Brent is expected at Egg Harbor, on the coast of Now Jersey, about tiio first of October, and haa l>e«u sometimes seen as early as the twentieth of September. Hi ■''1 t WILD FOWL. 71 The first flocks generally remain in the bay a few days, and then pass on to the South. On recommencing their journey, they collect in very large bodies, and making an extensive spiral course of some miles in diameter, rise to a great height in the air and then steer for the sea, over which they uniformly trrtvel, often making wide circles to avoid passing over a projecting point of land. In these aerial routs, they have been met with many leagues from shore, travelling the whole night. Their lino of march very much resembles that of the Canada Goose, with this exception, that frequently three or four are crowded together in the front, as if striving for precedency. Flocks continue to arrive from the North, and many remain in the bay till December, or until the weather becoincs very severe, when these also move ofl' southwardly. During l!ieir stay they feed on the bars at low water, seldom or nevfr in the marshes ; their principal food being a rcmarkr.hly long and broad- leafed marine plant of a bright-green color, which adheres to stones, and is called by the country-people sea-cabbiige ; the leaves of this are sometimes eight or ten inches broad by two or throe feet in length; they also eat small shell-fish. They never dive, but wade about, feeding at low water. During the time of high water, they float in the bay in long lines, particularly in calm weather. Their voice is hearse and howling, and when some hundreds are screaming together, reminds one of a pack of hcmnds in full cry. They often quarrel among themselves, and with the Ducks, driving the latter ofl' their feeding ground. Though it never dives in search of food, yet w' en wing-broke, the Brant will go one hundred yards under water at astride, and ia considered, under such circumstances, one of the most difli- cult birds to kill. " About the Xoth or 20th of May they reappear on t!icir way North, but seldom sto[) long unless driven in by tempestuous weather. The breeding phico of the Braiii is sujtposed to be very far to the Nortli. Tlioy are common at Hudson's May, very numerous in winter on the (-ottsts of Holland and Ireland, and called in Shetland Harra-Oeose, from their frequenting the iSTP-- 72 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. sand of that name ; they also visit the coast of England. Btiffon relates that in the severe winters of 1740 and 17G5, during the prevalence of a strong north vv^ind, the Brant visited the coast of Picardy in France, in prodi^nous numhors, and committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it uji by the roots, trampling and devouring it, and notwithstanding the exertions of the in- habitants, who were constantly employed in destroying them, they continued in great force until a change of weather carried them oir." — Wihan's American Ornitkolugy. I i ■J ■! \\ w -■ i 1 THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Anscr Alhifrons ; Bonap. Syn. Anser Albifrons, Laughing Goose; Sw. S( Rich. White-fronted Goose ; Nutt, Man. " Specific Character. — Head and neck grayish-brown ; at the base of the upper mandible, a white band. Adult with the hill carmine-red; with the unguis white ; head and necU grayish- brown ; a white band, margined behind with blackish-brown, on the anterior part of the forehead, along the bill ; general color of back, deep-gray, the feathers of its fore part broadly tipped with gniyish-brown — the rest with grayish-white ; hind part of back deep-gray ; wings grayish-brown ; toward the edge, ash-gray — as are the pi'imary coverts, and outer webs of the primaries ; the rest of the primaries and secondaries, gray- ish-black, the latter with a narrow edge of grayish-white — the former edged and tipped with white ; breast, abdomen, lower tail coverts, sides of rump, and upper tail coverts, white ; the breast and sides patched with brownish-black — on the latter in- termixed with grayish-brown feathers ; tail rounded, feet orange, claws white ; length, twenty-seven and a half inches ; wing, fourteen and a half inches. "On the coast of Long Island, this Goose is exceedingly rare. The cabinet of the Lyceum of Natural History, New- York, contains a specimen that was shot at Babylon. Accord- t I, ,1, WILD FOWU 73 ing to Mr. Audubon, ' it paises through the interior of the Soufhem and Western States during winter, as well as along the coast from Massachusetts to Texas ; and is said to pass through the interior of the fur countries in large flocks to its breeding places, which are the woody districts to the north of the seventy-seventh parallel, and also the islands of the Arctic S«a.' " — Giraud's Birds of Lang Island. THE SNOW GOOSE It «s Anas Hi/perboreus ; Wils. Anser Hypcrhoreus ; Bonap. Snow Goose; Nuttall. Anser Hypcrhoreus, Snow Goose; Sw. !f Rich. " Specijic Character. — Bill and feet carmine ; plumage pure white; fore part of head tinged with yellowish-red; prima- ries brownish-gray — toward the end, blackish-brown. Length thirty-one inches and three-quarters, wing fifteen. Female mea- sures about six inches less. Young with the head and uppei part of the neck and wing coverts, grayish-white ; lower part of nock, fore part of back, fore part of breast a»id sides, black- ish-uray ; hind part of back, and upper tail coverts, ash-gray; abdomen grayish-white — secondaries margined with the same ; bill flesh-color. " With us the occurrence of this bird is not frequent. Occa- sionally the young are seen exposed for sale in the New- York markets, though rarely the adult. In some seasons, small par- ties are seen on the South Bay, and now and then stragglers are soi ;i flying in company with the Canada Geese. The white- ness of their plumage renders them very conspicuous, and when opportunity olforH, are always singled out by the gunners. " ' Tlic Snow Goose breeds in the barren grounds of Arctic America in groat numbers. It feeds on rushes an;! insects, ami in autumn on berries. When well fed, it is a very excellent bird — far superior to the Canada Goose, both in juiciness and flavor. " ' The Snow Goeso make their appearance in spring, x few r t m U FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. days later than the Canada Geese, and pass in large flocks both through the interior and on the seacoast.' " — Criraud's Birds of Long Inland. SEA DOCKS. CANVASS. BACK DUCK. :i| I ■i; I !i ^ Canvass-hached Duck, Anas Val'isneria ; Wds. Amer. Om. Fuli- gula Val'isneria; Bon. Syn. FuUgula Valisncria, Canvass-back Duck; Sw. S( Rich. Canvass-backcd Duck; Nutt. Man. " Specific Character. — Bill black, the length about three inches, and very high at the base ; fore part of the head and the throat dusky ; irides deep red ; breast brownish-black. Adult male with the forehead, lonil space, throat and upper part of the head dusky ; sides of the head, neck all round ibr nearly the entire length, reddish-chestnut ; lower neck, fore part of the breast and back black, rest of the back white, closely marked with undulating lines of black ; rumj) and upper tail coverts blackish ; wing coverts gray, speckled with bhickish ; primaries and secondaries light slate color. Tail short, the feathers pointed; lower part of the l)i-*^ast and abdomen white ; flanks same color, finely pencilled with dusky ; lower tail-coverts blackish-brown, intermixed with white. Length twenty-two inches, wing nine and a (juarter. " Female, upper parts grayish-brown ;«neck, sides and abdo- men th<> same ; upper part of the bi-east brown ; belly white, pencilled with bla( kish ; ratliir smaller than the male, with the crown blaclush-brown. " This species is not found in any part of Europe. TtH richly flavored llesh is admitted by all to be superior to any other of this genus. Tho Canvass-back Duck returns from its breeding i WILD FOWL 75 place at the North, about the first of November, and during win- tei extends to the southern portion of the seacoast of the United States. It is not unfrequently shot in the eastern part of the Great South Bay, and I have known it to be captured in Long Island .Si)und. The majority, however, congregate on the Po- tomac and P "lavvare rivers. Those procured in the vicinity of New-York, are inferior to those obtained on the tributaries of the Chesapeake, owing to the difference in tlie tjuahty jf its food. The C an v ass-back feeds chiefly on the Zostera valisneria, — commonly termed ' tape or eel-grass,' and by some impro- perly called wild celery — which takes its growth in brackish water. We do not wish this plant to be confounded with the ' tape or eel-grass,' Zostera marina, which furnishes food for the Brent Croose. When its favorite food cannot be obtained, it feeds t)u various marine plants and small shell-fish that abound on our coast, which furnish an abundant supply of food to many species of inferior note. When the valisneria cannot be ob- tained, its flesh loses, in a gn^it measure, that delicacy of flavor, for which it is so justly celebrated. Like most other species, it is in the best condition for the table during the latter part of autumn. " Miller's Island, about fifteen miles from Baltimore, is a fa- mous place for shooting Canvass-bacUs, as well as other species of DucUs. ' Points' on this Island, and others in the vicinity, are rented for laru;e sums by parties who practise Duck-shooting. In tiiM scctioji 'decoys' are not used, and the unsportsmanlike manner of sailing after and harassing them on their leeding grounds, is not resorted to." — Giraud's Birds of Lmig Island. " This celebrated American species, as far as can bo judged from the beat figures and descriptions of foreign birds, is alto- gether unknown in Euroj)e. It approaches nean^st to the Po- chard of England — anasfirina — but diflbrs from that bird in be- ing superior in size and weight, in the greater magnitude of its bill, and the general whiteness of its j)lumage. A short com- parison of the tw() will elucidate this point. The Canvass-back i^ I ^''1' I m ?,', i;.""! W V*l"raWf»i iHfffwwi»»ll 76 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. I! !< :•,, I' li ■i it: 1 I I H|:l t . ll I, PI)': 1^ measures two feet in length by three feet in extent, and when in llie best order, weighs three pounds and over. The Pochard, according to Latham and Bewick, measures nineteen inches in length, and thirty in extent, and weighs one pound twelve or thirteen ounces. The latter writer says, of the Pochard : ' The plumage above and below is wholly covered with prettily freckled, slender, dusky, threads, disposed transversely in close set, zigzag lines, on a pale ground, more or less shaded off v/ith ash, a description much more applicable to the bird figured be- side it, the Red-head, and which very probably is the species meant. In the figure of the Pochard, given by Mr. Bewick, who is generally correct, the bill agrees very well with that of our Red-head, but scarcely half the size and thickness of that of the Canvass-back, and the figure in the planches enluminees, corresponds in that respect with Bewick's. In short, both of these writers are egregiously erroneous in their figures and de- scriptions, or the present Duck was unknown to them. Consid- ering the latter supposition the more probable of the two, I have designated tliis as a new species, and shall proceed to give some particulars of its history. " The Canvass-back Duck arrives in the United States from tlie North about the middle of October ; a few descend to the Hudson and Delaware, but the great body of these birds resort to the numerous rivers belonging to, and in the neighborhood of, Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Susquehanna, the Patapsco, Potomac and James Rivers, which appear to be the general winter rendezvous. Beyond, to the South, I can find no certain accounts of them. At the Susquehanna they arc called Can- vass-backs, on the Potomac, White-backs, and on Jan" • River, Shell-drakes. They are seldom found at a great distance up any of these rivers, or even in the salt water bay, but in that particular part of tide-water where a certain grass-like plant grows, on the roots of which they feed. This plant, which is said to be a species of valisneria, grows on fresh water shoals of from seven to nine feet, (l)ut never where these are occasion- ully dry,) in long, narrow, grass-like blades of four or or five feet Wir.D lOWL. 77 in length ; the root is white, and has some reseml)lance to email celery. This grass is in many places so thick that a beat can with difficulty be rowed through it, it so impedes the oars. The shores are lined with large quantities of it, torn up by the Ducks, and drifted up by the winds, lying like hay in winrows. Where- ver this plant grows in abundance, the Canvass-backs may be expected either to pay it occasional visits, or to make their regu- lar residence during the 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 Chesa- peake, to each of which particular places the Ducks resort, while in waters unfavored with this nutritive plant, they are altogether unknown. On the first arrival of these birds in the Susquehanna, near Havre-de-Grace, they are generally lean, but such is the abundance of their favorite food, that towards the beginning of November, they are in pretty good order. They are excel- lent divers, and swim with great speed and agility. They some- times assemble in such multitudes as to cover several acres of the river, and when they rise suddenly, produce a noise resem bling thunder. They float about these shoals, diving and tear ing up the grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat. They are extremely shy, and can rarely be approached unless l)y stratagem. When wounded in tlie wing, they dive to such prodigious distances, and with such rapidity, continuing it sc perseveringly, and with such cumiing, and active vigor, as al- most always to roiider the pursuit hopeless. From the great de- mand of these Duck:-., and the high price they uniformly bring in market, various modes are practised to get within gun-shot 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 concealed in a proper situation. The dogs, if properly trained, play backways and forwards along the maririn of the water, and the Ducks observing his manmuvres, enliced perhaps by cu- riosity, gradually approach the shore, until they are sometimes within twenty or thirly yards of the spot where the gunner lies concealed, from which ho rakes them, first on the water aTid then i 1 ■ • i n ii 11*' Ml 78 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. as they rise. This method is called, toling tliem in. If the Ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object, such as a red liaiulkerchief, 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 skiff towards a flock, whose position he had previously ascertained, keeping them 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 which he ge- nerally makes a great slaughter. Many other stratagems are practised, and indeed every plan that the ingenuity of the ex- perienced sportsman can suggest, to approach within gun-shot of those birds ; but of all the modes pursued, none intimidates them so much as shooting them by night, and they soon aban- don the place where they have been repeatedly shot at. During the day they are dispersed about, but towards evening collect in large flocks, to come into the mouths of creeks, where they ofl:en ride as at anchor, with head under their wing, asleep, there being always sentinels awake, ready to raise an alarm on the least ajjpearance of danger. Even when feeding and diving in small parties, the whole never go down at one time, but some are left above on the look-out. When winter sets in early, and the river is frosty, the Canvass-backs retreat to its confluence with the bay, occasionally frequenting air-holos in the ice, which are sometimes made for the purpose immediately above their favorite grass, to entice them within gun-shot of the hut or bark which is usually fixed at a proper distance, and where the gun- ner lies concealed, ready to take advantage of their distress. A Mr. Hill, who lives near James River, at a place called Herring Creek, infomis me that one severe winter he and another per- son linike a hole in the ice about twenty or forty feet immedi- ately over a shoal of gi-ass, and took their stand on the shore in a hut of brush, each having three guns well loaded with large shot. The Ducks, which were flying up and down the river in great extremity, soon crowded to this place, so that the whole open space was not only covered with them, but vast numbers \ lih'-i «■■■■ WILD FOWL. 79 stood upon the ice around it. They had three firings, both at once, and picked up eighty-eight Canvass-backs, and might have collected more, had tliey been able to get to the extremity of the ice after the wounded ones. In the severe winter of 1779-80, the grass, on the roots of which these birds feed, was ahnost wholly destroyed in James River. In the month of January, the wind coniinued to blow from w. n. w. for twenty-one days, which caused such low tides in the river, that the grass froze to the ice everywhere, and a thaw coming on suddenly, the whole was raised by the roots and carried off by the freshet. The next winter a i'ew of these Ducks wore seen, but they soon went away again, and for many years almr, they continued to be scarce, and even to the present day, in the opinion of my inform- ant, have never been so plenty as before. " The Canvass-back, in the rich, juicy tondenicss of its flesh, and its delicacy of flavor, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe in this or perhaps any other quarter of the world. Those killed in the waters of the Chesapeake are generally esteemed superior to all others, doubtless from the greater abundance of their favorite food which these rivers produce. At all our pub- lic dinners, hotels, and particular entertainments, the Canvass- backs are universal favorites. They not only grace but dignify the table, and the very name conveys to the imagination of the eager epicure the most comfortable and exhilarating ideas. Hence on such occasions, it has not V)een uncommon to pay from one to three dollars a pair for these Ducks, and, indeed, at such, if they can, they must be had, whatever tlio price. " The Canvass-backs will feed readily on grain, especially wheat, and may be decoyed to particular places by baiting them with that grain for several successive days. Some few years since, a vessel loaded with wheat, was wrecked near the en- trance of Great Egg Harbor, in the autumn, and went to pieces. The wheat floated out in vast quantities, and the whole surface of the bay was, in a few days, covered with Ducks, of a kind altogether new to the people of that quarter. The gunners of the neighborhood collected in boats in every direction, shooting >l i 1,111 ■ 'viml '11 m 1 i| ^ ili. i ^ i I : ! I 80 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. them, and so surressful were they, that, as Mr. Beasly informs uio, two hundred and forty were killed in one day, and sold among the neighbors at twelve-and-a-half cents a-pioce, without the feathers. The wounded ones were generally abandoned as be- ing too difficult to be come up with. They continued about for three weeks, and during a greater part of that time, a continual cannonading was heard from every quarter. The gunners called them Sea Ducks. They were all Canvass-backs, at that time on their way to the North, when this floating feast attracted their attention, and for a while an-ested them in their course. A pair of these very ducks I myself bought in the Philadelphia market at the time, from an Egg Harbor gunner, and never met with their superior either in weight or excellence of flesh. When it was known among these people the loss they had sustained, in selling for twenty-five cents what would have brought them from a dollar to a dollar and a half per pair, universal surprise and regret were naturally enough excited." — Wilson's America?/ (Ji • nithology. RED-HEADED DUCK. Red-headed Duck, Anas Ferina ; Wils. Fuligula Ferina ; Sw. if Rich. Red-headed Duck, or Pochard ; Nuttall. Red-headed I^uck, Fuligula Ferina ; Audubon. " Specific Character. — Bill bluish, toward the end black, and about two inches and a quarter long ; irides yellowish red. Adult male with the head, which is rather large, and the upper part of the neck all round, dark reddish-chestnut, brightest on the hind neck ; lower part of the neck, extending on the back and upper part of the breast, black ; abdomen white, darker toward the vent, where it is barred with undulating lines of dusky ; flanks gray, closely barred with black, scapulars the same ; primaries brownish-gray, secondaries lighter ; back grayish-brown, barred with fine lines of white ; rump and upper tail-coverts blackish-brown ; tail feathers grayish-brown, lighter WILD FOWL. 81 ■j.t the base ; lower tail-coverts brownish-black, rather lighter than tlie upper. Length twenty inches, wing nine and a half! Female about I wo inches smaller, with the head, neck, breast, and genei-al color of the upj>er parts brown, darker on the up- per part of the head, lighter on the back ; bill, legs, and feet similar to those of the male. " With us the Redheaded Duck is not as common as many other species, tind is seldom seen in numbers west of Babylon, being chiefly confined to the eastern part of the South Bay, where it is sometimes seen in comjiany with the Canvas.s-l>,u;k, feeding on the stems of the same plant, the latter prcrerring thr roots, being more tender and juicy, which imparts to its flesh a delicate flavor. The Red-headed Duck is also excellent, com- mands a high price in our markets, and is frequently sold to the inexpeiienced as Canvass-back, which it so closely resembles that the dec(>ption is easily practised upon those who have never compared the species. It is readily identified by the difference in the color of its eyes, as well as by the form of its bill. •'At Egg Harbor, the Red-he ided Ducks nre more common than they are with us, but not so plentiful as on the Chesa- peake, where the majority assemble during winter. " Attempts have been often made to domesticate these birds, but only in one instan o do I know of its having been attended with success. This was with an individual in the possession of Edmund Powell, of Westbuiy, L. I., who has induced it to become completely reconciled to its new home, as though it had never known any otiier course of life. This gentleman seems to have a peculiai faculty for subduing the wild propen- sities of birds, of which he has a greater variety domesticated by himself than I have seen in any other part of the country. It is not only a great embellishment to his residence, but at times the means of all'ording convenient shooting, as they always invite straggling parties, when crossing the land, to stop and share with them ; the invitation, given with so much earnest- IjCSS, and being hailed in their own language, they seldom fail to VOL. H. 6 IIHR IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // J z 1.0 1.1 Itilli 12.5 ■so "^ turn mm ... I£ m IIL25 1.4 II 1.6 ^ 6" ► 7 f, z /A V '^y '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STRUT WIUTM.N.Y. MSIO (716)i79-4S03 '^ 4- 82 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. alii^ht on the pond, without in the least suspecting the treachery of their kinsman. The Red-headed Duck arrives with us usually about the first of November — early in March it leaves for the North, where it breeds." — Giraud's Birds of Long Island. SCAUP DUCK. Anas Mania; Wils, Amer, Om. Fuligula Marila, Scaup Duck; Sw, !f Rich. Scaup Duck ; Nutt. Man. — Vulgo, Broadbill. " Specific Character. — The head and the neck all round, with the fore part of the breast and the fore part of the back black ; the sides of the head and the sides and hind part of the neck dark green, reflecting puiple ; length of bill, wlien measured along tiie gap, two inches and five-sixteenths ; length of tarsi one inch and three-eighths ; length from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, nineteen inches, wing eight inches and five- eighths ; a broad white band crossing the secondaries, and con- tinues on the innor primaries. Adult male with the forehead, crown, throat and upper part of the fore-neck brownish-black ; sides of the head, neck, and hind-neck dark-green ; lower por- tion of the neck all round, with the upper part of the breast purplish-black ; rest of the lower parts white, undulated with black towards the vent ; under tail coverts blackish-brown ; tail short, dark-brown, margined and tipped with ligliter brown ; upper tail coverts and rump blackish-brown, middle of the back undulated with black and white, fore part black ; wings brown, darker at the base and tips, speculum white, formed by tlie band crossing the secondaries and inner primaries; scapulara and inner secondaries undulated with black and white ; secondary coverts blackish-brown, undulated with white. Female with a broad patch of white on the forehead ; head,necK, and forepart of the breast, umber brown; upper parts blacKish-bfown; ab- domen and lower portion of breast white; scapulars faintly mai'ked with white. WILD FOWL. 3a " This comm jn Duck is more generally known to our guii- ntrs l)y the name ot" ' Broad-bill ' or ' Blue-hill.' According to Willoughby, it takes its name from a certain small kind of shell- fish on which it feeds. — Wilson. It is met witii along tlie whole extent of the Atlantic coast, and is a regular visitor along our western lakes. It arrives among us from the 10th to the 20th of Octobei", associates in largo Hocks, and on its fiist appearance is easily decoyed, but after having been frequently shot at, be- comes more shy. In stormy weather it takes shelter in the coves, and is frequently decoyed within gun-shot from the shore by having a dog trained for the purpose of swimmhig between it and the shore, as also by moving a red handkerchief every lew seconds, keeping your jjerson concealed. This manoeuvre either charms or irritates it — I am inclined to think the latter, IVom the impetuous manner in which it approaches. The scene is truly ludicrous. I have tried this method with oiher species without success. It remains with us in the winter until the se- verity of the weather compels it to leave for a better supply of food. When passing over frozen bays, I have killed it at air- openings. When wounded, it avoids pursuit by diving, and is famous for skulking under the banks. It is no particular advan- tage to have a large flock come up to the decoys, for the instant you rise to fire, they scatter in all directions, so that it is diffi- cult to get over two in range ; when a flock swims up to you, as it occasionally happens, of course greater havoc is made. It passes the night on the flats in large flocks, seldom or never roosting on the marshes or meadows, and is very quick in dis- covering the best feeding-grounds. In passing through tluniar- row ' leads,' — as the gunners term the natural creeks and chiitinels that foim those beautiful islatids in our wide bays — to its favorite feeding-grounds, it is easily killed without decoys. It returns to us early in the spring, and remaii» y i vm J il'; i!'l ill i 'i' 1 n If Mi '''Hi;! 1 1 ' •i' I ■ I 98 FRANK FORESTERS FIELD SPORTS. fish. There was a singular hard expansion at the commence- ment of the windpipe, and another much hirger, ahout three- quarters ol' an inch aliove, where it separates into the two lohes of tiie lungs; this last was larger than a Spanish hazel nnt, flat on one side, and convex on the other. The protuboriincc on each side of the bill communicated with the nostril, and was hollow. All these were probably intended to contain supplies of air for the bird's support while under water ; the last may also protect the head from the sharp edges of the shells." TIIE AMERICAN SCOTER, Fvligula Americana. — Vulgo, Coot. This bird is aliundant along the Atlantic coasts during tho winter, from the gulf of the St. Lawrence to tho mouths of the Mississippi. It is never seen inland. Breeds in Labrador. Like the two last named varieties, its flesh is worthless. Mr. Giraud thus describes it, biiefly, amcmg the birds of Long Is- land, where it is known, like the Velvet and Surf Ducks, as a Coot, to which bird, be it obsei-ved, it has no affinity, and bears no resemliliincc. " Specific Character. — Bi'l reddish-orange, paler at the sides and tip; a patch of black at the sides of the base of tho upper mandilde, where it is very broad and high; nostrils large, per- fectly I'roc and arched ; the upper part of the upper uiiindible as far as the nostrils, same color and very broad. Lengih nine- teen inches, wing nine. Female smaUer, and with the protu- berance; at the base much less; upper parts brownish-black; lower parts lighter. " 'J'his is also one of tho ' Coots.' It passes its time at sea, and sulisists by fishing, ire(iuently associating with the Velvet and Surf Ducks. Like all other divers, it is often caught bj becoming entangled in the fishermen's nets. In the Eastoiu States, it is known by the name of ' Butter Bill.' " WILD FOWL. 91 THE EIDER DUCK. Fuligula Molissima. — Vulgo, Squaw Duck, This well-known species, famous for its admirable down, is common to l)oth continents. A few pair breed on the coast of Miiiiie, and thence northward to Labrador. It is a rare visitant, however, any where ah>ng the Atlantic coasts of the United States ; is seldom indeed seen southward of New- York, and hardly ever of New-.Tersey. lis flesh is intolerably oily and fishy ; and but for its down it is worthless. To the Esquimaux and the Greenlander alone can it be re- garded in the light of game. Its ])eculianty, and the fact of its occasicmally breeding on the coast of the States, which no other of the Sea-ducks— ^w/Z^'w/rt — are known to do, alone induces me to give it a place in this work. pet |b\ GOLDEN-EVE DUCK. Fuligula Cfangula. " Male, 20.3U. Female, 1G.23. " Abundant during the winter on all the running streams of the interior, as well as along the Atlantic coast, as far soutli as the Gulf of Mexico. Breeds in the high northern latitudes, ac- cidental in the northeastern districts, Rocky Mountains, Colum- bia River. " Adult male in winter : " Rill black. Iris bright yellow. Feet orange yellow, webs dusky, claws Idack. Head and u])])er part of the neck deep- green, changing to purple in certain lights. Rack, posterior acapulars, inner secondaries, edge of wing, alula, primiiiy coverts, primary quills, and four or five otiter secondaries, black ; the back being darker and glossy, the wing feuth(>rs tipped with 51 :J 100 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. i f» !l !■: i' t browm. An elliptical patch between the base of the bill and the eye ; lower part of the neck all round, sides of the body anteriorly, the lower parts generally, the scapulars, excepting their margins, which are black, a large patch on the wing, including many of the smaller coverts, some of the secondary coverts, and six or seven of the secondary quills, are white. The basal parts of the secondary coverts black. Axillar feathers and lower wing-coverts dusky ; the elongated feathers of the sides have the inner, some of them also their outer margins, black ; that color, in those of the innermost, covering the whole web. The feathers on the legs, and along the sides of the rump, dusky. The tail brownish-gray. " Length to the end of tail, 20 inches ; to end of wings, 17^ ; to end of claws, 20t ; extent of wing, 31^ ; bill along the ridge, Ig — from the angles, 2 ; wing from flexure, 9 ; tail, 4^ ; tarsus, 2,\. Weight, 2 lbs. 4^ oz. " Adult female : " The female is much smaller. Bill dusky ; a portion at the end, not however including the unguis, dull yellowish-orange Eyes and feet as in the male. Head and upper part of the neck, dull reddish-brown ; lower part of neck and sides of the body, brownish-gi-ay, the feathers margined with pale gray. Wings brownish-black, seven of their coverts, excepting at the bases, white ; the smaller coverts lighter and tipped with gi'ayish white ; the legs and sides of the rump grayish brown. " Length to the end of tail, 16 inches ; to end of wings, 15 ; to end of claws, 17i ; extent of wings, 28. Weight, 1? lbs." — AuduhorCs Birds of America. " This Duck is well known in Europe, and in various regions of the United States, both along the scacoast and about the lakes and rivers of the interior. It associates in small parties, and may easily be known by the vigorous whistling of its wings as it passes through the air. It swims and dives well, but sel- dom walks on shore, and then in a waddling, awkward man- ner. Feeding chiefly on shell-fish, small fry, &c.. their flesh i« WILD FOWL. 101 kns Ihe 38, lei- Ill • leas esteemed than that of the preceding. In the cJnited States they are only winter visitors, leaving us again in the month of April, being then on their passage to the North to breed. They are said to build, like the Wood-Duck, in hollow trees. " The Golden-Eye is found on both continents, and in the northern parts of Europe during winter, and is one of the most common migratory Ducks. TheGarrots are distinguished by a short, stout and compact body ; the neck short ; the head large, and apparently more so from its thick plumage; the bill short, but thick, and raised at the base ; the feet placed far behind, and formed for swimming. The flight is short and rapid. In habit, they delight more in lakes and rivers than the sea ; are generally found in small flocks ; are very clamorous during the breeding season, and feed on fish, aquatic insects, moluscte, &c. Richardson says, Clangula vulgaris and albcola frequent the rivers and fresh water lakes throughout the Fur Countries, in great numbers. They are by no means shy, allowing the sports- man to approach sufficiently near ; but dive so dexterously at the flash of the gun, or the twanging of a bow, and are ccmse- quently so difficult to kill, that the natives say they are endowed with some supernatural power. Hence their appellation of ' conjuring' or ' spiiit Ducks.' "In Britain, they are winter visitants, assembling in small parties on the lakes and rivers. On the latter, they may be gene- rally found near the head or foot of the stream, diving incessantly for the spawn of salmon, with which I have often found their stomachs filled. The party generally consists of from four to ten, and they dive together. At this time it is not very difficult to approach them, by running forward, while they are under water, and squatting when they rise. I have often, in this way, come to the very edge of tlie river, and awaited the arising of the flock. When taken by surprise, they dive on the instant of the first shot, but rise and fly immediately after. " The young of the first year has been made a nominal spe- cies, and is somewhat like the adult females, but always distin- guished by larger size, darker color of the plumage of the head, ni 4 M M i:l 1! , If t ', !l 1| - : ', 102 FKANK FOUESTEU S FIELD SPORTS. and the greater proporlion of white on tlie Avings. The males have the white spot on the cheek percej)tible about tl;o first spring, and the other parts of the plumage propoitionally dis- tinct. Among most of the flocks which visit our rivers in win- ter, it is rare to find more than one full-plum aged male in each ; sometimes not more than two or three are seen during the win- ter among fifty or sixty immature birds." — Wilson's American Ornithologij. Mr. Wilson proceeds to observe, thfit he is convinced that the Lesser Morillon — Anas glaucion — of Europe, is no other than the young of the Golden-Eye. This point has, however, been long since investigated, and thoroughly disproved. This is famous both in this country and in England, as being the most cunning, shy and wary of the Duck sjiecies ; and although Mr. Audubon speaks of it as easily decoyed, and tempted even by very rude imitations of itself, to pass and re- pass the stools, affording several fair shots in succession to the gunner, I have never heard of any instance of the kind, and Mr. Giraud bears testimony to exactly the reverse, stating that, when himself well concealed, he has often known it to pass his decoys without offering to approach, or deigning them tlie slightest no- tice. The same gentleman observes, that on Long Island it is not a very numerous tribe. I have never myself shot the bird at all in the United States, although I saw it last autumn very late in the season, in large flocks on Lake Champhiin. I am assured, however, that on the western and southern streams, which do not freeze at all, or not till very late in the winter, it is very common and abundant. When it feeds on fresh Wiitcrs, Mr. Wilson to the contriuy notwithstanding, no Duck, with but two or three exceptions, is preferable to the Golden-Eye. WILD FOWL. 103 THE BUFPEL- HEADED DUCK. Fuligula Albeola. — Vulgo, Dipper, or Butter-Ball. " The TJufFol-lieaflcd, or rather, as it lias originally been name^l, the Buffiilo-headed Duck, I'rom the disproportionate size of its head, is fourteen inches long, and twenty-three inclics iii extent ; tlie bill is short, and of a light blue, or leaden color ; the plu- mage of the head and half of the neck is thick, long, and velvety, projecting greatly over the lower part of the neck ; this plumage on the forehead and nape is rich glossy green, changing into a shining purple on the crown and sides of the neck ; from the eyes backward passes a broad band of pure white; iris of the eye dark ; back, wings, and part of th(> scapulars, black ; rest of tlie scapulars, lateral band along tlie wing, and whole breast, snowy white; belly, vent, and tail coverts, dusky-white; tail pointed, and of a hoary color. " The female is considerably less than the male, and entirely destitute of the tumid plumage of the head ; the head, neck, and upper parts of the body and wini;s are sooty black, darkest on the crown; side of the iicad marked with a small, oblong spot of white ; bill dusky ; lower jiart of the neck ash, tipped with white; belly dull white ; vent cinereous ; outer edges of six of the secondaries and their incumbent coverts white, except the tips of the hitter, which arc black ; leys and feet a livid blue; tail hoary brown ; length «■ I i? I I ' ! i I 1 f i! 1 [ > '■ k III ' 104 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. than which I have only to say, that it is a beautiful and very delicate little bird : " This beautifully variegated little Duck receives its name from the disproportionate size of its head to the body. From i{8 constant diving, it is called by our gunners ' Dipper.' I will here remark, that the true Amei'ican Dipper — Cinclus Ameri- canus — has only been found at the Columbia Rivci*. The marked difference in the plumage of the male and female Buficl-headed or ' Spirit Duck,' as it is sometimes called, induces many to sup- pose that they are distinct species. I have met with it in various parts of the United States ; and indeed, during the spring and autumn, it is dispersed throughout the Union, visiting the inte- rior as well as the seacoast ; it dives so dexterously, that when sitting on the water, it is very difficult to kill it, even with per- cussion caps. It is an excellent swimmer, and flies swiftly ; its food consists of small fish ; it is generally in fine condition, but not considered a superior bird for the table. In New-Jersey, it is called ' Butter Box,' or ' Butter Ball.' Its note is a single quack. It is generally met with in pairs, until the appearance of spring, when it is seen in small flocks ; it arrives with us in October, remaining until the latter part of April, when it leaves for its summer residence at the North, where it breeds." THE HARLEQUIN DUCK. FuUguIa Histrionica. — Vulgo, the Lord and Lady Duck. A very beautiful, but extremely rare species. According to Mr. Audubon, it is very rarely found southward of Boston Bay. Mr. Giraud states that the young only are now found in the inlets of Long Island, although some years since it is said to have abounded there. It breeds along the eastern coasts of the United States, up to Labrador. An instance is mentioned by Dr. Richardson, of one killed on the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains ; it is probable, therefore, that to the north- ward it extends its migrations very far inland. i WILD I OWL. 105 " The Harlequin Duck is a native of both continents. It is an excellent diver, has a whistling note, flies swiftly, and to a great elevation. It is much admired in the cabinet, and its flesh is said to be excellent on the table." " Adult male in summer : " Bill yellowish-olive, the tips of the unguis lighter ; iris red- dish-brown ; feet light l)lue, the webs grayish-black, the claws whitish ; a broad band from the base of the bill to the occiput bluish-black, margined behind with light yellowish-red, before wrJi white, that color forming a broad triangular spot on the cheek, anterior to the eye ; sides of the head, and neck all round, purplish-blue; a spot of white behind the ears ; a curved lino on each side of the neck ; a complete ring of white below the middle of the neck, with a curved band of the same color anterior to the wing ; all these white markings broadly edged with deep black; the forepart of the back light purplish-blue, the hind part deepening in tint, so as to become almost black, of which color the rump is all round ; scapulars chiefly white ; wing coverts purplish-blue, as are the alula and primary coverts ; the quills dark grayish-brown ; the tail grayish-black ; a small white spot near the flexure of the wing ; a band of white across the wing, fonned by the tips of the secondaries, of which the inner have their outer webs principally of the same color ; fore part of the breast purplish-blue, hind part and alidomen grayish-brown ; sides light red ; a latent spot of white near the root of the tail. " Length to end of tail, 17] inches ; to end of wings, 142 » t" end of claws, IG J ; extent of wings 26^ ; wing from flexure, 7J ; tail 3'. Weight 1,^ lbs. " The male docs not attain his full plumage until after the tihird moult." — Audubon's Birds of America. I " 'A I i 1:1 ■:i :.f,:i II 1.. 1 s. r i J ' in i t ll' r 1 ; 1 i| X j \ii\ I ilil ! i ■tv. , 1 13 i I i 1 tl V 106 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. THE LONrr-TAILHI) DUCK. Fuligula O'lacialis. — Vulgo, South- Southerly — Old Wife — Ola S(£uaic. Abundant flurino; the winter alonof the mnsts of tlie Atlantic districts, to the mouths of the Mississippi. Never in the interior " Sj>cfi/ic Character. — Length of hill from the termination of the frontlet feathers to the point, one inch and one-sixteenth the ujiper mandihle rounded; the sides very thin ; tlie hill ra- ther deeply serrated, and furnished with a long nail ; tail-fea- thers acute. In the male the middle pair of tail-ieatlieis arc extended ahout four inches beyond the next longest, which cha- racter is wanting with the female. Adult male with the bill black at the base ; anterior to the nostril leddisli-oraiigc?, with a dusky line matgining the nail ; fore ])art of tlu; head white, the same color passing over the head down the hind-neck on the back ; eyes dark-red ; cheeks and loral space dusky-white, with a few touches of yellowish-brown ; a black patch on the sides of the neck, terminating in reddish-brown ; fore-neck white ; breast brownish-black, terminating in an f)val form on the abdo- men— the latter white ; flanks bluish-white ; primaries dark- brown ; secondaries lighter brown, their coverts black ; a semi- circular band of black on the fore part of the back ; the outer two tail feathers while — the rest marked with brown, exce})fing the four acuminated feathers, which are blackish-brown, the middle pair extending several inches beyond the ntiiers. Female without the long scapulars, or elongated tail leathers ; bill dusky-green ; head dark grayish-brown ; a ])atch of grayish- white on the sides of the neck ; crown blackisli ; upper parts dark grayish-brown ; lower parts white. Length of male, from the pouit of the bill to the end of the elongated tail leal hers, twenty-f 1 ' ' 00 inches, wing eight inches and five-eighths. Female about six inches less in length. " This hardy bird at the South is known by the name of * South-Southerly ;' in this vicinity it is called by our gunners WILD FOWL. 107 ' Old Wife,' or ' Old Squaw.' The Long-tailed Duck is al)Out the last that leaves its natal regions. Provided with a covering sufficient to protect it from the most piercing blast of winter, it struggles amid the icy harriers until compelled to seek a hotter supply of food. AVhcn in large flocks, they leave the iiiliospi- ta")le regions of the North I'or amiider climate ; they soon sepa- rate in small parties, and in the course of the winter are to be met with throughout the Atlantic districts. It is very timid, and keeps such vigilant watch, that it is difficult to approach. It is very expert in diving, passing so rapidly under water, that when sitting it is almost impossible to shoot it. The most suc- cessful manner is by sailing after it. On the wnig, it is the swiitest of its tribe, and the most difficult to shoot. Its body is thickly coated < ith down — its flesh is tough and fishy ; and is occasionally seen on the small s'reams in the interior. (Com- mon ahing the Atlantic distiicts." — GirmuVs Birds of h. I, THE KING DUCK. Fuligula Spictahilis. This beautiful species is an inhabitant of the higher regions of both continents. It is now rarely seen so low as Bosfon IJay, where it is said by the gunners to have been plentiful within thirty years. In fact it is now very rare within the limits of the United States, though Mr. CJiraud was so fortunate as to obtain a specimen in full plumage killed on Long Island Sound. It is closely allied to the Eider Duck, produces down as valuable, and frequents the same latitudes with that bird. I never saw but one specimen of this beautiful bird, which was brought by my friend, Mr, Henry Palmer, of Nova Scotia, to the office of the Spirit ot the Times during last summer. He had shot it off" the northern end of Newfoundland, and was not acquainted with its name. It is so rare that it cannot be termed game, and is, I presume, uueatable. It will be easily recognized by its pale-yellow bill, (■-, < I I 'I ill ii 108 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. with a gibbous process at the base, of a deep orange hue. Its ci'own is of a violet-gray hue ; its cheeks of the most delicate sea-green; the neck white; breast yellowish-buff, and lower parts almost black. Upper parts and wings dusky, with the exception of the fore part of the back, the ujiper part of the wings, and a patch on each side of the rump, which are white : legs dull-oranges Length to the er>d of tail 25 inches, to end of wings 23. The rarity of this bird renders farther description unneces- oary. THE WESTERN DUCK. Fuligula Dispar. This gaudy-colored, paiTot-tinted giecn and white fowl, with an orange-colored belly and blue legs, is unknown to the eastern side of this continent, and is so rare on the western, except ir. the highest latitudes, that the figure contained in Mr. Audu- bon's invaluable work on American Birds was not done from an American specimen, but from one stuffed in the museum at Norwich in England, which was killed off Yarmouth, in the year 1830. It is only mentioned here from the possibility, that by the growing mildness and increasing change of temperature, this bird may be drawn down to our shores. At present it is scarcely a bird, far less game, of the United States. v^ With this bird ends the list of the Sea Ducks of the United States of America ; but inasmuch as I omitted, in my mention of the Inland or Fresh-water Ducks, the Widgeon — Anas Americana — which, though not properly a soa Duck, is rnrt-ly found in the interior, even in the western States, although they do visit the waters of the Ohio, and the adjacent ponds, keep- ing company, however, even there with the Pintails and WILD FOWL. 109 Teals, rather thiin with the Mallards and Dusky Ducks. It abounds in the Chesapeake, in company with the Canvass- Backs, Red-iieads, Long-tailed Ducks, and Shovellers. It -.3 there and throughout the west known as the Bald-pate, and is esteemed excellent eating. The Gadwall — Anas Strcj>cra — and Shoveller — Anas Clypcata — have heen noticed already. They are commf)n to the West, but scarcely in sufficient quan- tities, though delicious birds, to be enumerated as game proper. i THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. Anas Americana. — Vnlf/o, Bald-pate. "This is a handsoinoly-markcd and sprightly species, very common in winter along our whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island, but most abundant in Carolina, whore it frequents the rice plantations. In Martinico, groat flocks take short flights fiom one rice-field to another, during the rainy season, and are much complained of by the planters. The Widgeon is the constant attendant of the celebrated Canvass-back Duck, so abundant in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay, by the aid of whose labor he has ingenuity enough to contrive to make a good subsistence. The Widgeon is extremely fond of the tender roots of that particular species of aquatic plant on which the Canvass-back foods, and for wliich that Duck is in the con- stant habit of diving. The Widgeon, who never dives, watches the moment of the Canvass-back's rising, and, before he has his eyes well opened, snatches the delicious morsel from his mouth, and makes off". On this account the Canvass-Backs and Widgeons, or, as they are called round the bay. Bald-pales, live in a state of peipetual contention ; the only chance the latter have is to retreat, and make their approaches at con- venient opportunities. They are said to be in great plenty at St. Domingo and Cayenne, where they are called Vingeon, or Gingeon. Are said sometimes to perch on trees ; feed in «iompany, and have a sentinel on the watch, like some othjr I m 1 «' rii ,t;l i i . i ii: I , i IJO FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. birds. Tliey feed little during the day, hut in the evenings ronie out from their hiding-places, and are then ojisily traced hy their particular whistle, or ivJiciv-n-hciv. This soft note o)' wliisfle, is frequently iniitnted witli success, to entice them withiti gun- shot. They are not known to breed in iiny [):irt of the United States ; are common, in the winter months, along the buys of Egg Harbor and Cape May, and also those of the Delaware. They leave these places in April, and appear upon the coasts of Hudson's B;iy in May, as soon as the thaws come oti, chiefly in pairs ; lay there only from six to eight eggs, and feed on Hies and worms in tl.c swamps ; dej)art in (lochs in autumn. " These birds are frequently brought to the market of Haiti- more, and generally bring a good price, their (lesh being excel- lent. They are of a lively, froli(!some disposition, and, with proper attiMition, might easily be dcmiesiicated. " The Widgeon, or Hald-pato, measures twenty-two incl.t's in length, and thirty inches in extent ; the bill is of a slate- color ; the nail black; the front and crown cream-colored, sometimes Jiearly white, the feathers inilated ; from the eye backwards to the middle of the neck bi'hind, extends a bund of deep glossy green, gold and purple; throat, chin and sides of the neck before, as far as the green extends, dull yellowish- white, thickly speckled with black ; breast and hind ])ait of the neck, hoary bay, running in under the wings, where it is crossed with fine waving lines of black ; whole I elly white; ; vent black ; back niid scapulars black, thickly and beMutifidly crossed witli undulating lines of vinous-bay ; lower j)art of the bnck more dusky I tail coverts long, ])ointed, whitish, crossed its tlu; back; fail pointed, brownish-ash; the two middle featluM's iin inch longer than the rest and tapering ; shoulder of the wing brown- ish-ash ; wing coveits innnediately Ih^Iow, white, Cnrmiiig a large spot; primaries brownish-iish ; middle secondiiries bhick, glossed with green, forming the sj)ecuhim ; fertiiils bliick, ednco with white, between which and the beauty-spot, several of the secondaries are white. "The female has th<> whole head and neck yellowish-white ■WILD FOWL. Ill thickly speckled with black, very little nifoiis on the breast ; the back is cliirk-brown. The young mules, as usual, very nnicli like tho females during the first season, and do not receive their full plumngr! until the second year. Tliey are also subject to a legnlar change every spring and autumn. " This sp(>cies is closely allied to the European Widgeon, and may be taken as the American analogue. They seem to meet each other about the arctic circle ; tlial of Amei'ica extending beyond it, and ihat of Europe reaching to the European verge. They will form the types of Stephens's genus Manca, which will probably stand m the rank of a more sul)ordiiialc group only. The form is one of consideraI>le interest, possessing many com- binations, which may be found to comiect some parts of the natural system. The bird of Europe, exce])t in the breeding season, is mostly an inhabitant of the sea-sliore ; during a severe winter, a few stray inland to the larger hikes and rivers, but as soon as a recurrence of moderate weather takes ])lace, they re- turn to their more favorite feeding grounds. In Britain they are mostly migratory, and at the fust commenccmeTit of oui harder weather, are found in vast flocks on the flatter coasts, particularly where there :.re beds of muscles and other shell-fish. During day, tliey rest and plume tliemselves on the higliei shelves, or do/e buoyant on tlie waves, and only commence their activity with tlie approach of twilight. At this time llii'v becnuio clamorous, and rising in dense flocks iVom theii' day's resort, pi(ic(>e(l to the feeding irrounds, lieiieially according to iIk; wind in the same tract. At tlie commencement of winter tliey are fat and delicate, much sought after by the sea sportsmen, and are killed in niiniliersby persons lying in watch in tin; track of the known tligiit.or what in some parts is called nhtklt^^. 'V\\v most pr^ipitioiis niglit for this sport: is aliont iialf moon, and strong wind ; the birds then fly low, and tlieir approach is easily known by the whistling of their wings an i liieir own siirill cry ; wlience their coast name of Ilctr. 'I'liey iiic; suliject to an :inninil change of jilumage. Mr. Ord mentions, that a few of thesa birds breed annually m the marshes in the neigliborliood of I 'I U^;il i :f| 4 m 112 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. Duck Creek, in the State of Delaware."- Omithology. Wilson's American The three birds of the genus ilfcrg'?/*, namely the Goosander. vulgo, SiiELLDRAKE — Mcrgus Mcrgamcr ; the Red-Breastep Merganser — Mcrgus Senator ; i^wA x\\e Hooded Merganser — Mcrgus Cucullatus — tlioun;h all well known sea fowl, all hand- some birds, and all occasionally shot, are utterly unworthy tfi bo called game, and unfit for the food of man. Merely to be named, is, for these, almost too much honor. And here ends the list and descriptions of the Shore Birds and Sea Fowl of the United States. A notice is to ensue of the va- rious modes by which they are captured, and then we pass on to a nobler division of our subject, the hunting proper, and wilder sports and animals of the Western States, and the great occidental wilderness. Note to Third Edition. — For account, with particulars of a new Duck, supposed to bo nondescript, killed by the author in the Severn Itiver, Lake Huron, in the Autumn of 1849, see Appendix F. \\ »AV SHOOTrNo. 113 k BAT SHOOTIJVG. 'i1 ' even ;:f' ™ •'.■'™" "■" -.,0™;;;', ;,:° '■»- --. P^rJZ, Zv "^"'» "'" ''™''"^' »e.r, ;, „ '■ "'° ""P"™ of a brie,- *o United States. Winterin ^ """ ""• ""-er portion „l' J'-y, Wit,, t„ei,. y„„„„ ,, "X °'""""' ''^-y-k. a».l N..;: f «™ Bay t„ Eg, Ha,., "l ; L """ ''°™'' ' -'' *■"" 8 1;^ ' irl 114 FRANK FORESTER S PIKLD SPORTS. .i:h i,-< 1 r ;i ■] lie FRANK "ORESTER's FIELD SPORTS. and others on the south side of Long Island, and others equally famous at Egg Harbor, in Boston Bay, and other suitable places, a day's sport is nearly certain at the proper season. The quantity of birds killed is sometimes really astonishing; the weather is generally beautiful, and if there be a breeze on the water, and you take the precaution of filling your basket with pleasant eatables, taking lots of ice and of good water, with a quantum stiff, of anything you please, to render water drinka- ble, you may pass a summer's day agreeably enough, getting a shot either at single bii'ds, or at heavy flocks, every few minutes The gi'eatest drawbacks to the sjiort, arc the cramped pos- ture in which you are compelled to lie, or crouch, in order to conceal yourself, the reflection of the sun from the glassy sur- face of the water, which, if you are in the least degiee thin- skinned, is very like to blister; and peel off* every inch of ex- posed cuticle, and, lastly, the hordes of musquitoes and gnats, which, imless you are pretty thoroughly acclimated, will proba bly use you up to about as great a degree as you will use up the Willets, Robins, Dowitchers, Marlins, Yellow-legs, and Black-breasts. If, however, despising all these small annoyances, you resolve to try the Snipe, get a good bayman, as I have advised, take your two heaviest double-barrelled guns, I do not mean Duck guns, but ten or twelve pounders, load with moderately coarse powder and No. 5 shot — not larger to my mind ! — and lying- low and keeping dark, you can scarcely i'ail to make a bag. Generally speaking, these birds are not difficult shots, and if a flock comes fairly up to your decoys, and sails over them on expanded wings, and circles round as if to alight, you cannot miss them, and can hardly fail to make gieat havoc in their crowded ranks. Sometimes, instead of being alarmed by the gunshots and the fall of their companions, the simple birds will appear to be fascinated and attracted by the cries and fluttering of their wounded associates, and will circle over and over them, giving a chance for several shots ; but in any event, if a large flock BAY SHOOTING. 117 •i comes well over your decoys, which are not usaally set above ten or fifteen yards distant, you should with piompt delibera- tion be generally enabled, after getting in your two first bar- rels fairly, to catch up your second gun and do more or less execution with it also. Occasionally single birds, or wary flights, will skate past your decoys without noticing them, or giving any heed to your imitation of their ciies, at a long distance, and at a very great rate, and in that case you must shoot far ahead of the foremost bird, or you will have no chance whatever of killing. Written instructions can avail nothing to teach you what are the peculiar calls of the various species, much less how to imi- tate them, or how to distinguish what species it is that is ap- proaching, by the order of its flight and the peculiarity of its motion, so soon as your eye can descry it against the clear blue sky, and long before you can discern its colors ; yet this you must be able to do with certainty, before you can yourself be- come a proficient at Bay Snipe shooting. Long practice alone, and experience, can make you perl'ect in this. En attendant, without knowing anything at all about it, having a good bay- man, you may have great sport. Me judicc, however, whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well ; and if I thought it paid to shoot Bay Snipe at all, which I do not, I should deci- dedly (jualify myself to recognize and whistle all, as I can now some four or five of the commoner species. After all, it is less difficult with a gimd tutor, than it would at first be considered. The greatL'st difficulty, I think, that will be experienced by a beginner in this sport, is that of correctly judging distances, the surface of smooth water being singularly deceptive, and the size of the birds, as it seems to nie, being frequently augmented to the unpractised eye, by s me sort of refraction, or optical delusion, so that you would supjjose them nearer than they really are. It is not easy to give any general rule for measuring the dis- tance of a bird on t'.ie wing, so greatly does the range of vision vary in various individuals ; but with a person neither extraor- dinarily far-sighted, nor on the other hand at all shurt-sighted, III 118 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. perhaps as good a criterion as any, is the seeing tin; eyes of tho bird at which you are shooting, if it be a fowl of any size. This I have heard old baymen speak of, as their test of a bird being within fair shot, tJiough were I to wait till a Plover's eyes were visible to me, I should not fire a shot in a twelve month. In this, however, as in every thing else connected with field sports, a little practice will soon give facility, and until that is obtained, as good a way as any for the tyro, is to look upon his bayman in the light of a fugleman, and implicitly to follow his motions. it^if- aVNS FOR U A V S II O O T I N a . It is hardly to be expected that any person who is not en- tirely devoted to field sports will go to the troii':'« and expense of providing himself with a gun propei for every several kind of game and mode of shooting, as, if he should do so, he can scarce be completely armed withnut half a dozen pieces at the least. For sportsmen in general, a couple of guns, one for general work, and the other for fowl shooting, will be sufficient, but it cannot be denied that every kind of game has its peculiar weight and calibre of piece, better adapted than any other to do execution on it. Thus for summer Cock shooting, when the woods are in leaf, so that it is rare to fire a shot at above a dozen to twenty pares, a short, light, large-bored gun would be as effective, perhaps more effective than any, and far handier in covert, and less onerous in hot weatlior; the same gun would be amply suffi cient for Rail shooting. For any person who could afford it and would take the trouble of having diff'erent guns for every species of sport, for summer Cock shooting and Rail shooting, I should recommend a gun not to exceed 26 inches length of barrel, and 12 guage, with a weight of six and a half pounds BAY SHOOTING. 119 .1 only. But this gun should not be fired with to exceed 1 oz. at the utmost of No. 8 shot. For autumn shooting, spring Snipe shooting and the like, the piece I should recommend would be 32 inches barrel, 14 guage, and from 7^ to 8 lbs. weight, and this I believe to be the most killing proportion that can be adopted, and by all odds the best gun lor general shooting, and therefore the most sei'viceable and most appropriate lor a man who uses but one piece. For Bay Snipe shooting, or inland wild fowl shooting, a heav- ier piece is requisite, if we would do the greatest possible exe- cution with a given gun, and for these pui poses I would j)refer a length of 32 inches with a weight of ten pounds, and a guage of 12. I am still speaking of double guns. But for large-fowl shooting, and especially at large flocks, I would by all means prefer a single gun, as a double gun of the requisite length and calibre would be wholly unmanageable if made of the proper weight of metal ; and must consequently be made so light, preserving the true length and guage, as to kick very severely, if not to be dangerous. The heaviest shoulder gun that can be used conveniently and quickly, is from 13 to 16 lbs., and with this weight a length of 42 inches, and No. 7 guage, 3 oz. of No. 1 or 2 shot can be thrown with the greatest possible effect, and will do more execution than larger shot. A is the biggest that should ever be fired from a shoulder gun, and if made in a green wire cartridge, will exe- cute as far as can possibly be desired, even at Geese or Swans. The best wadding for Duck guns is tliick felt wadding, and the best powder is that already named — Curtis & Harvey's Hawker's Ducking powder. A little less than the same measure which contains your charge of shot, full of powder, is the right charge for guns of all weights and calil)res, according to the new and true system of heavy powder, light shot. I am perfectly satisfied that one sportsman, using two such single guns as that here described, will kill double the quantity of game that will be brought to bag by another using a double t ■ I "■jl. 120 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPOI>TS. gun of the same or smaller calibre, witli a weight of 20 pounds, which is the greatest that can be used by a very strong man handily, and which even then must necessarily be very inconve- nient, owing to two causes : first, that a weight of 20 ))ounds is insufficient to a piece of greater calibre than 10 guagc with a length of 38 inches, for a double gun ; and second, that the lighter single piece is far more manageable, as well as far more effective. Now, having described all these various forces and fonns of guns, each most effective for some one kind of shooting, I will simply add in conclusion, that, for all ordinary purposes, a man is, to all intents and purposes, sufficiently well armed (or every kind of shooting, who carries the ordinary gun of 7i' lbs. weight. 31 inches barrel, and 14 guage, and who has a single Duck gun, such as I have described above ; or, still better, if he is an eager and constant fowl shooter, two such exactly similar. For the former I would prefer, if the price were within my means, the best English gun that could be furnished by Messrs. William Moore and William Gray, No. 78 Edgeware Road, Lon- don, whom I consider to be, all in all, at this moment, the best makers in the world. Mr. Purday is undeniably a great and good maker ; but of late, the guns of his make which I have seen in this country, are infeiior in power and solidity to his work, as I remember it of old. This may arise, however, from some tem- porary fashion of the market, or from some whim of the persons for whom the pieces were built ; and there is no doubt that who- ever orders a gun of any one of some half a dozen London makers, will be thoroughly well suited and satisfied. Colonel Hanker has published in his great work a list of all the London makers ; this, for many reasons, I consider wholly unnecessary in such a book as this ; as few persons here are likely to order guns, without some knowledge of whom they are employing. I would, however, here especially advise any American sports- man to avoid purchasing English guns through tho medium of American gunsmiths, and still more through American mcrcan- BAY SHOOTING. 121 tile importing liouses. It is not too miicli to say, that a first- rate maker's gun is never for sale by the furmi'r, unless it comes int(j their hands second-hand, and by an accident ; and that the work imported by the latter, and disiwsed of at wholesale or retail, is the very worst style of Birmingham pinchback gim- ciackery. From Charles Lancaster, 151 New Bond Si reel; Joseph Lang, 7 Haymarket; William Moore and William Gray, 78 Edgcwarc Road ; Samuel Nock, 49 Regent Circus ; James Purday, 314! Oxford Street ; as also from the Messrs, Egg, Pic- cadilly; Forsyth, Leicester Square; and Manton, Dover Street; first-''ate guns may be procured for first-rate prices ; and in the long run, I believe, to give such prices for such pieces, \\ill be found to be not only the best but the cheapest policy. For the heavy Duck guns, I earnestly recommend Mullin, of Biirclay Street, New-York, as the best and cheajicst maker in the United States, be the other who he may. He will furnish a sin- gle Duck, such as I have described above, thoroughly finished, In the style Col. Hawker recommends, without any engraving or ornament, for seventy-five dollars, or perhaps less money ; and 1 will back such a gun of his make, on the dimensions given above, to beat any imported gun of any dimensions, which can be de- livered in New-York for the same price. Furthermore, I would rather employ him to build me a gun of any style, not to exceed one hundred and fifty dollare in price, than buy any imported gun at a New-York shop for one hundred and seventy-five, or import one myself at the same price. I have tested his work thoroughly, and can speak to its excellence and durability. CV ^' '. ' llu-', ill ')■. I ■ M I • ri',!l 'I- il.rlv. mi ... ''I fill,-.: I. ili.ijl Id "; 'II.!;, ". , ■ ■ •• ■■'. "■'■ >')•'. li .. |, . . , t.' I , ■ ■ <\ I ' i ', . ■ i . ; , ■• (■■ .. ; I i I i u 111 I if I- lib. m'i n I ' ii JV : i.'.- ili,',.' ' ■..,•" ■ : ■■ '.tsy V^ -■*■•.'■-■'■■'• . '.'itm ;.i:-.-it'v,. ■f '■^N/ H. 31 I' i! FOWL 8H00TIN0. 123 FOWL SHOOTING ON LONG ISLAND. y HIS sport, of which some persons be- come passionately fond, preferring it infinitely to Upland shooting, braving all sorts of weather, and incurring in finite fatigue in pursuit of it, is fol- lowed on the Long Island bays, foi the most part, by two methods only both of which, like the last, partake in all respects the nature of ambush, rather than of pursuit. The common, and what may be called the old-fashioned mode, closely resembles that above described, under the head of Bay Snipe shooting, and consists in secreting a boat, containing one or more gunners, in a recess scooped out of a mud bank, and disguising it still faither with sedges and sea-weeds, in a posi- tion commanding some favorite feeding ground of the Ducks and Geese, and anchoring a flock of wooden decoys at a proper distance from the station in the shallow water. As the tide rises, the fowl move from place to place, coming from what then becomes deep into shallower water, and vice vcrsd, at the ebb ; and as they fly to and fro, they are attracted by whiit they imagine to be a flock of their confederates, and sail down to hold colloquy with them, sometimes even settling in their midst, aiid giving the experienced gunner favorable opportunities at times of getting three or four barrels into the flock, and so doing deadly execution. Canada Geese can often be induced to lower their flight, and stoop to the decoys by the imitation, which is very accurately ■ i 1 .p it 4 * n '' '' II t Uli 1; M| iiii FRANK FORESTER'S FIELD SPORTS. in performed by many of tlie men, of the hoarse honking of the Ganders ; and if they come fairly to the stools, great is the ex- citement of watching their approach, as they come beating the air witli the heavy sweej) of their long wings, dimpling the smooth surface of the water with their dragging legs ; and huge is the sj)ort if you succeed in delivering a volley of four lieavy single guns, wei'l loaded with A, which I greatly prefer to BB, hito their midst. Brent, which, next to the Canada Goose, is, in my opinion, the best bird shot on the Long Island waters, is much more wary, and less easily decoyed. In fact, they rarely settle to the stools, so as to aflurd a fine shot, although at times they will sivim up to them. It has been recently found that a skilful oarsman can herd and drive them down to the decoys, where his companions are awaiting them, as they will swim steadily away in a direct line fmm the bows of an advancing boat, with- out attemjjting to take wing, unless they are pressed too closely ; and advantage has been taken of this propensity to make great havoc. Another common method of killing this delicious bird, the flesli of which is rarely, if ever, fishy, and which in May especially is superexcellent, is to lie in wait i'or them in hiding places, constructed so as to command and sweep the sand-bars on which they are wont to congregate in gieat flocks, for the purpose of wallowing and dusting themselves in the white sand. It is by this method that the greatest numbers of them have been generally killed. There is another plan for taking Brent Geese, or Brant, which, altliough it is denounced by Mr. Giraiid as unsportsmanlike, and as highly detrimental to the feeding grounds, is nevertheless ill my mind infinitely the best fun, the highest excitement, and the greatest sport, of any kind of fowl shoothig — I mean sailing for the fowl before the wind, in light sWift boats. These Geese have the habit, as I have observed before, of swimming away diroctly in front of pursuing boats ; and it would appear that with a sail-boat coming snoring down before a stiff breeze, they miscalculate the distance and velocity of the approacliing jieril, FOWL SHOOTING. 125 as they will frequently let a boat run almost into the midst of them, before they will attempt to rise, and when they do so, as they usually face the wind in taking wing, they are compelled lirst to breast you, and then to present fine side shots. I do not doubt that Mr. Giraud is j'erfeclly right when he states, that this practice, if persisted in, has a tendency to frighten the Geese from their feeding grounds ; and therefore for the sake of preserving lliese, it may be advisable for thosi" who have an interest in protecting them, to discountenance the method. I cannot for my life, however, see in what I'cspec; it is unsportsmanlike; nor by any exertion of my wits, can I dis- cover what there is spintsmaiilike at all, in any jjortion oT our system of fowl shooting. Indeed, though it be well enough as a mode of killing game, it is to me wofuUy dull work, however rapidly the shots may come in, to lie cramped up on your belly in a boat, or still worse, on your back in a battery, in cold an tumu weather, with the salt water freezing whereve • the spray falls on your pea-jacket, or sou'-wester, or in warm spring-time, with the sun blazing down in your face, and reflected upward from the intense mirror of the liquid surface. There is no accounting for tastes, however, and certainly im I rue sportsman will take mucii heed of the fatigue, or roughing of any kind, to which he must submit, in the pursuit of his favo- rite gftme. If less discomfort, there is more toil by half in Up- land shooting, whether it be winter or summer, than in decoy fowl shooting ; to me the lack of excitement, and the sameness of position, is the great drawback to the sjiort ; I have learned, however, to respect the tastes of all men, and to depreciate no kind of spoi't, especially one which has so many ardent and en- thusiastic followers, as this of Long Island fowl shooting. I should, indeed, be but a degenerate sportsman, anil a poor disciple, had I listened so often as I have done to the quaint converse, and revelled so rarely in the eloqiumt descriptions of my poor frietid, .T. Cypress, junr., rejoicing to narrate liow he and Ned Locus "could each cut down a Leather-head, flying by a point of marsh before a strong north-wester, sixty yards ^\ M m i 126 FRANK FORESTER S FIELD SPORTS. ofT. nineteen times out of twenty. That is a fact," quo' he, " and there are not many men, beside us and John Verity, and Raynor Rock, who are up to that performance. Uncle Ben Raynor could do it once, and Dan thinks he can do it now ; l)ut, as Peter Probasco says, ' I have my doubts.' Multitudi- nous sportsmen may shoot ?«//, but none but a man of true ge- nius can shoot splendidly. Shooting, in its refinement and glory, is not an acquired art, a man must be born a shot, as much as he must be born a poet. You may learn to wing-break a starved pigeon, spning out of a trap, fifteen or twenty yards off; but to stop a Cock in a thick brake, where you can see him only with the eye of faith, or to kill a vigorous Coot, cutting tlie keen air, at daybreak, at the rate of throe miles a minute — requires an eye, and a hand, and a heart, which science cannot manufac- ture. The doctrine of Pliny, the naturalist, contained in his chapter on Black Ducks, is correct beycmd a question : ' Le- gere ct scrihere est pcedagogi ; sed opthnc collineare est Dei T Reading and writing are inflicted by schoolmasters, but a crack shot is the work of God. " ' Them's my sentiments,' as Peter again says." And Heaven defend that I or any other should depreciate the sport which can inspire ' them sentiments' to any writer. Poor fellow ! whether ho were born a shot or no, assuredly he was born a poet, the very laureate of American field sports and sportsmanship. Heav with what strains the flight of Canada Geese inspired him, and then say, gentle reader, was he not, in the largest sense of the word, bom a poet : "They come, they tenr the yielding nir, with pennon fierce nnd strong, On clouds they lenp, from docp to dnpp, the vaulted dome iilong ; Ilc'iivcn's light horse, in n column of'iiltnck upon the |iole; W(is ever seen, on oconn green, or under the hlue sky. Such dIsclpUned bnttiilla n« the cohort In your eye ;— Around her ancient iijcls, let old Terra proudly roll, nut the rushing flight that's tn your sight, is what will wake your soul. " tiawnk ! honk ! and Torward to the Nor'wanl, is the trumpet tone, Wlmt Goose cnn lug or feather flag, or lirotik Iho goodly oone, Ilnwnk ! oownrds to the cool blue lakes, wl)rre lie our safe love Ixiwers, FOWL SHOOTING. 127 No stop, no drop of ocenn liriiiu, nenr stool, nor blue light tory, Our trHVclliiic watch'. ord is, 'our mates, our goslings, and our glory I' Synisoniii and Labradcjr for us are crowned willi Howcrs, And not n lireast on wave shall rest, until that heaven la ours. Hawnk ! hawnk I E— e hawnk !" And here I was about to follow the ubove with a description of my own, of battery shooting, as practised in the Long Island bays, but especially in the neighborhood of the Fire-Islands; but in hunting up the spirited versicles quoted above, in an old number of the Turf Register, I hit, by accident, on an extract so strikingly correct and graphic, that I have not been able to refrain from tjuoting it, although I cainiot give the name of the author, who has rejoiced to subscribe himself by the euphonious title of a sockdolager. " Reader — gentle we will not term you, as the epithet is so completely identified in our mind with the idea of a sprucn young gentleman, his locks redolent of Oil Maccassar, and his digits invested in primrose-colored kid, that we will not insult you by applying it — reader, then, have you, in your various wanderings over this habitable globe, ever enjoyed one of the most exciting of all amusements — a good day's wild-fowl shoot- ing ] If such has been your fortime, does not the sight of the engi'aving at the commencement of the present number n>call at once to your recollection many an excellent day's sport ? Can you not fancy yourself once more at Jem Smitli's, on Fire-Island, lying in your boat, your finger on the trigger, and waiting with a beating heart for the approaching flock to decrease tlie dis- tance by a few yards more, before you open into their close column a raking fire from your heavy double-barrel. We know that you can, and tlierefore shall leave you to fight your battles o'er again, and plan future campaig:is against tlie unsuspecting Ducks, while we charitably proceed to enlighten the under- standing of your less gifted I'ellow-student with a few remarks on the science of wild-fowl shooting. '* The principal place for the enjoyment of this sport in the neighborhood of Ncw-Yf)rk, is Long Island ; and from Montauk to Jamaica, the southern coast being deeply indented by bays I I' 'l' I I :i •n i ;f m ■Ml:'! ';;:;i:ili m 128 FRANK FORESTEli S FIELD SPORTS. 1 m their usuul liaunts, and ccnr elliiig them to sei'k for refuge in some place less securely fori ifii'd. The battery is formed of a deal-box, about seven fe.'t hng, three wide, and two deep; fro:n the rim of this a p'atlbrm of board runs off at right angles, about six feet on every sid.', and the interior is caulked to render it watei'-ti