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Las diagrammas suivants lllustrant la m^thoda. 1 2 3 4 5 6 TTW * "r'n!""" ~ " - <; \^ ^m ■i<<^ '*^%^ ^ ^ r A iVi t : ^.■^■' /.£' m- '%, ?' -f - ¥ Js-'^* ■v*iff <*?« ■^' SS'-- \f:M; AMERICAN GAME IN ITS SEASONS. BY JILXia -WILLIAM HERBERT W.O.LA^BS.' "MV SnoOXING I,OX," " XHE DKEK-STALKKK3," KU, KXO. ' I L L U S T R A T E D F i: 0 M Is' A T U It E , AJJD ON WOOD, BY TLIK .AUTHOR. * KEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER, U5 NASSAU STREET. 1853. Entered accordiiiR to Act of CJongivss. in tlie year IS53, by CH A E LES sen 115N Ell, In the Clerk'8 Ofllco oftlic District Court of tlio Unittd Stiitos for tlio Soutliern Dis- trict of New York. Steiciityped and rriutcd by 0. W. BENEDICT, 201 William Street, N. Y. Southern Dis- TO OF PUILAVELPBIA, IN TOKEN OF EEGAED AND ESTEEM, THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS KESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BT BIS FELLOW-COUNTRYMAN, FELL0W-SP0PT8MAN, AND FRIEND, HENRY WM. HERBERT. The Ckdaks, January 10, 1868. ^ ILLUSTRATIONS. FRONTISPIECE THE MOOSE, WILD GOOSE, MALLARD AND WIDGEON, SNIl'E, BASS, AMERICAN TROUT, DRANT, BAY SNIPE, RAL^rON, - WOODCOCK SUMMER DUCK, VAOUIO FAQB 1- 8ft ll» 1S9 141 167 169 18T 203 i VI COMMON DEKR LIST OF irXUBTltATIONS. ULUE-WmOED TEAL, QUAIL, - BITTERN, - RUFFED GROUSE J YELLOW PERCU, CANVAS-BACK WINTER DUCK 1 VAOIMO PAQII 931 S86 800 no ADVERTISEMENT. This volume, wliicli is now for the first time submitted to the public in a conroctcd form, is comi^osed for tlio most part of papers which have appeared from time to time in the pa<,^es of Graham's excellent magazine, under the running title of " The Game of the Month." It does not profess to contain complete accounts of every species of game, found or pursued within the wide limits of the United States of America— that must be looked for in works of wider scope and larger pretensions, whether by the author or others.* All that it aims at doing is to set some of the princi- pal and most highly esteemed varieties before the gene- ral reader, in a light and attractive style, with some * I may here mention, " Hawker on Shootin-," American Edition, by William T. Porter ; " Frank Forester's Field Sports," and " Fish and Fishing," by Henry William Herbert ; and " Hints to Sportsmen," by E. 1. Lewis ; all of which works have found favor with the public, and are admitted standards. Viii A1>V10RTISEMENT. account of tlieir specific distinctions and cliaracteiistics in a zoological point of view ; of their liabits, liaunts, and migrations ; and of tlieir season in diifcrent parts of tlie vast demesnes owned by tlie American people ; not what is esteemed the most sportsmanlike and scien- tific r.iode of pursuing, killing, and when killed, cooking them for the table. The leading idea of the plan was to adopt for each inonth in the year the finest, and most generally, favor- ite species of game^ with reference principally, as regards season, to the Northern, Midland, and JS'orthwestern portions of the United States and Canada, thougli the animals described are common more or less to all sec^ ions of the country. The somewhat rambling and irregulrr plan of the series renders any apology for this or that gppcies of game wdiolly nnnecessar}^, since, in the first place, It never was intended to constitute a perfect natural history of all the grane, birds, beasts, and fishes of America, but merely a series of sketJiy papers ; and in the secor d, because the series is yet in progress,, and when- over it may appear desirable, or be called for by public favor, another volume or volumes mav be from time to time presented. ADVERTISEMENT. Ix The illustnitions are all designed and drawn on wood from nature, by tlie autlior, with two exceptions, " the Bittern," and " the Yellow Perch," which were copied from correct representations, owing to the impossibility of procuring specimens at the moment when they were required. It is believed that they will be found correct as zoological representations ; while the beautiful and elaboi'ate work of Messrs. Brightly and Devereux's gravers cannot fail to obtain the admiration it merits. I have only to acknowledge my obligations to the oflicers of the Lyceum of Natural History, in Philadel- phia, and to Mr. Bell, the celebrated Taxidermist in Kew York, for the facilities they have kindly afforded me in obtaining specimens fO'" this and former works ; and to submit my little work to the consideration of my friends of the sporting world, and the larger circle of the read- ing public. Henry Wm. Herbert. Jcmuary 10, 1863. £ T T CONTENTS, GAME IN ITS SEASONS. JANUARY. The Cariboo or American Eeindeer. Cervus Tarandus. PAO« 17 FEBRUARY. The Moose Deer. Cervus Alces. - Thh Wild Goose. Anas Canadensis. - 45 58 MARCH. The Mallard AND Widgeon. Anas BmJias. Anas Americana. 71 APRIL. The American Snipe. Scolopax Wihonii. Striped Bass. I^abrax Lineatus. . 89 119 I MAY. The American Trout. Salmo Fontinalis. The Brent Goose. Anas Bernida. - 129 141 xu CONTJiNTS. JUXE. Bay Snipe. Hudsonian Godmit. Lmosa Hudsonica. The Red- breasted Snipe. Scolopax Novebomcensis. - 157 The SalmoxV. Salmo Salar. 169 JULY. The Woodcock. Scofopax M^nor, sive MicropUm Americana. 187 AUGUST. The Summer Duck. ^,,^5 Spoma sive Dendronessa. The Common Deer. Cervus Virginianus. - 203 221 SEPTEMBER. The Blue- Winged Teal. The Green-Winged Teal. Anas Dicors. Anas CaroUnensis. - - . . 237 OCTOBER. The Quail. . Orttjx Virgin ionus. • The Bittern. Ardra Lentiginosa. I NOVEMBER. The Ruffed Grouse. Tetrao Umhellus. The Yellow Perch. Percafavescens.- 253 266 285 300 CON'lTiKTS. XI u DECEMBER. The Oanvas-Back. Anas Vdisneria. - The Winter Duck. FuUguJa Bimaculata 319 332 I. JANUARY. ^t €mhfiQ. THE AMERICAN REINDEER, Cervua Taramdvs, ARCTIC REGIONS— NEWFOUNDLAND TO NEW YORK. i i ! ; 1 i ! [ I!;,' [ THE CARIBOO. AarERicAN EEiNDEER. — Cevvus Taranclus. Habitat ; from Newfouiidhind, tlirougli all tlie British provinces and possessions so far nortli as the artic seas, to the northern part of the State of New York. The Cariboo is not found soiitli of the St. Law]-ence, farther west that the Black river, nor on the great lakes west- ward of the Ottawa. It is said that there exists several varieties of this splendid stag in the extreme northern regions, though they have not been defined even by the recent bold and scientific explorers of those inhospitable climes. I have, however, recently satisfied myself that there are, if not in Canada, at least in N'ewfoundland, two dis- tinct varieties of Cariboo, one vastly superior in size to the other, and characteristically separated from the smaller, by the form and structure of its horns. Of this I am satisfied, by the examination of a pair of antlers, lately exported from that curious and interesting island, by my friend. Dr. Hugh Caldwell, which differs entirely from thoae in my own possession, which furnished the models for my frontinpioce, and iv ^ many specimens 18 AMiaacAN GAME, in tlio office of tlio " Spirit of tlio Times," all brought . from the same island, hy the late Mr. Ilenrj Palmer^ of Kew Brunswick. Tlie general cliaracteristics of this huge deer, inferior only in size to the Moose deer, Cervus Alus, of the same regions, and to the Wapiti, Round Horn, or American Elk, Oervus Canadensis, of the far west, differing and dis- tinguishing it from all other animals of the same species, are first : The peculiar structure of its horns, combining the properties of the palmated and furcated structures. Second, Tlie length and looseness of its pelage, and the shortness of its tail, which rather resembles the scut of a hare, than the long flag of a deer; and thirdly, Tlie ex- treme cleft of its lioofs and feet, extending up the pas- terns, nearly to the fetlock joint. A structure to which this animal owes its great facility in traversing the treacherous snow drifts, is the unparalleled spread of its hoofs and pasterns, the whole length of which rests on the surface over which it bounds, when in full action, up to the fetlock, sui^porting it where small-footed animals of inferior size and weight would sink up to the belly at every stride, and where man himself labors even with the* mechanical aid of snow-shoes. In speaking of the color of the Reindeer below, as the most grizzly and lightest colored of its tribe, I am not cer- tain that I have not fallen into the error of assigning tlie characteristic coloring of one, the l^ewfoundland variety, and possibly the wmter coining of that, as general THK CARIBOO. 19 among tho race. Mr. Wallop speaks of their "dark- brown hides," and some Canadian sportsmen have ob- jected to my description ; still I prefer letting what 1 have written stand, since I wrote from actual inspection of Newfoundland Cariboo skins ; and until I have seen others of darker hue, must hold in absence of other proof what I have seen to be true. If the Cariboo of the other British provinces, and the North-eastern States of America, diifer in color from those of Newfoundland, my too general statement may perhaps tend to elicit further information, by which tho numbers and distinctions of the several varieties may be definitively attained. It is not a little extraordinary, that this magnificent and noble species, which exists in considerable numbers within two hundred miles of the spot wliere I sit writing, in the Adirondack Highlands — I mean of New York — which abounds in the north-eastern part of Maine, swarms in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, and in- deed everywhere North of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa, to the extremest Arctic Regions yet penetrated by the foot of man, should be yet less known to American writers — even on the topic of Natural History — than most animals of Central Asia, or the inhospitable wilds of Southern Africa. It is not even determined — so little care has been taken in examining or identifying specimens — ^whether it is one and the same, or a different species from the Eeindeer of the Europe- Asiatic continent ; nor (i • II > 20 J AMDuicAN a\m: 'live any of Its pocnliurKies 1 tlio COlUlll )C >ii indicuh' en noted down, sucl «nd col or 'J"H of its stufuiv, antl I a^ much lo.ss its udufoiuical and ers, pc'la ■o^» sotistopennitofuiiyaecumto or duci.si< Co •'» urrivod tit. >Hseou8 structure mimriHon boinx^ d ') rawn. Vroor of tho loose way in wliich tl descriptions of niro animals are d leso sclf-stjiod «'^'enin preteuHion and supposed auti mwn, in books of coed to Anier quote the foil '<>i"ify, 1 shall pro- »«■'"« iH>„. tl,o K.,cycloj„cclia icaim — n work l ;;"o wi„ .O..CI. it/,.,esv: ; : r::;"''':'^'- tlioy uniy „eo,l to ask it. "" ^"•■■"*'°" "J?t'iW«v"— says the authority "Ti )'abit t].e Arctic I,Ia,Kl, of St """""'^ ■"■ extrcuity of t„„ 0 UCo ,t ■^""'' "'" "" ""'■""^™ according to oi.Wr to «" ' 'T"" '""'''"»" '^•^•^^""«'^' "ever profited .,yth..o „.i]itvof^ '" f ""' '''^^"^ i" trans,,„rti„,. H.oV i ' , * " "'"""'' ''^ ••"'' '''«'» " " "'^« «"'' Pi-oporty, tho„gl, they TUE CAlilBOO. ) such a^ I'ucturo, ■ drawn, f-stjIo(l >oks of ill |)ro- It it is ts trito cqiiiro Jidiug", easiou lis iu- thorn iided, altic. 'ance mer- i-ally ?e to »eeii ave lem liey 21 annually destroy great ninnbors for their flesh and hide^ There appear to bo several varieties of this useful quad- ruped peculiar to the higli ,iorthern ren-ions of the Ainer- lean Continent, M'hich are ably described by Dr. Kichard- 8on, one of ti.e companions of Captain Franklin, in his arduous attem].L to reach the Korth Polo by land The closeness oithe hair of the Cariboo, and the lightness of Its skin, when dressed, render it the most appropriate ^ article for winter clothing in the high latitudes. The hoofs of the Keindeer are very large, and spread greatly and thus enable it to cross the yielding snows without sinkmg." And this-without one word of its height, weight color, or habitat-is the only information which thj ]iditor of tho American Encycloprcdia thinks proper to give his readers-except a brief description of Dr. Rich- ardson, about whom he seems to know a little it' he knew nothing about Cariboo-concerning an animal, which IS killed almost annually within fifty miles of Albany, sold annually in Montreal, and in T^ew Bruns- wick and Nova Scotia almost as common an article as venison, or Moose-meat during winter in tU markets. Would not any one suppose, on reading tho above^ that he was dealing with the description of an animal' which roamed only wastes untrodden by the foot of the white man, save the adventurous explorers of the Arctic Circles, and concerning which no information can be gained by the ordinary naturalists of this country? 22 AMERICAN GAME. Cuvier and Eichardson, and Audubon's stupendous work are not attainable by general readers, or even oi'dinaiy writers of citiec; to tliobe of the country tliey are utterly inaccessible-but to Encyclopedists, and to men wlio sit down to reproduce great works on Natural History, who choose to consult them, they are perfectly and easily open ; and there is no shadow of excuse for those who profess to teach others, yet refuse to learn themselves. Had the writer of the above worthless trash thought fit to compare Dr. Eichardson's description of the Cariboo, which it seems he had read— and which, like all that singularly able naturalist's descriptions, is doubtless as minute as correct— with Cuvier's description of the Eeindeer, he might have pronounced as easily as he could whether two and two makes four or five, whether the American and Europe- Asiatic deer are identical or dififerent. Godman, in his "Quadrupeds of North America," though a little more definite than Dr. Leiber, is scarce less bold and brief. Dr. Dekay, whose la- mented life has recently been brought to an untimely close, though he suspected it to be a denizen of I^ew York, was not fully assured of the fact, and there- fore has not, I think, described it in his Fauna of that date. I have myself, unfortunately- no immediate access to eithe- Eichardson or Cuvier ; nor even to any well estab- lished work on the Animals of Northern Europe. But THE CAKIBOO. 23 I have seen a large herd, in my youth, of the Lapland lieindet r, which, with their Esquimaux attendants, were exhibited many years ago in London ; previous to a futile attempt at naturalizing them in the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland; and have a fair general remembrance of the animal. I possess antlers of the Cariboo, which hang in my hall, and which are accu- rately portrayed in the wood-cut; I have handled twenty times the hides of this great deer ; and I have daily oi3portumties— in the office of my friend, W. T. Porter, of th'3 Spirit of the Times— to examine the pre- served heads and legs of even finer specimens than my own. I have also letters, private, and writings pub- lished,-of a New Brunswicker, who has killed the Cari- boo fifty times, and had opportunities of seeing the European Reindeer, at the Zoological Gardens in London, long since myself. I cp n, therefore, form a very fair con- jecture at the identity or non-identity of the species. At least, I can give some particulars of structure, stature, and pelage of the American Cariboo, which will enable oth- ers to judge, who are better posted up than I, in the pecu- liarities of the Lapland Reindeer. And first— I will pre- mise that altliough I have never seen the Cariboo in life, or in his native woods— which I trust to do before the snows of the next March shall have melted— the wood-cut illustration of this number is so closely made up from measurements of the various parts, heads, ant- lers, legs and hides of the animal, that I believe it to be 24 AMElilCAI^ GAME. 1 m I t as neai'ly correct as any likeness can be, wliicli is not taken from an especial individual of tlie race. In the first place— as to the stature of the Cariboo, I was long ago struck by the statements of the 'New Brunswick writer, " Meadows,'^ alias Mr. Earton AVal- lop, alluded to above, which may be found in Porter's edition of Hawker's Field Sports, p-. 320-333— " Tlie Cariboo of this country are very like the Ecindeer, only a little larger"— and again— "As this is the first time you have seen a Cariboo trail, you will observe it is much like that ot an ox, save that the cleft is much more open, and the pastern of the animal being very long and flexible, comes down the whole length on the snow, and gives the animal additional suj^port." Arguing on this statement, in my "Field Sports," knowing Meadoavs to have seen both animals, that they must be distinct, I pointed out that no one could dream of comparing a Lapland Eeindeer's track to that of an ox, any more than to that of an elephant ; and observed farther, that the Lapland Reindeer is not a larger, but, to my recollection, a smaller animal than the common American Red-deer, Cervus Virrjinumus of Natuvalkts. This coming casually nnder Mr. Wallop's eye, he wrote to me, in full confirmation of my opinion, that he had recently seen Lapland Reindeer in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, and wished to amend his former dictum, by saying, that the Cariboo is at least one-third taller than the Lapland deer, and otherwise larger, and TIIK CArjBOO. 25 I n other re.pecfe very different. Also that the laphnd ammal ,s not taller than the British stag, or the .wf canCo»,n„nl,eer,or,ifatall,ver,.sli:htI,so. Now, to come to any o,n> observation, verified by measurement. The Cariboo antlers in mL ^ Extreme w,dth from tip to tip, one foot fonr and . " ! "':'"•■■'• ^-S'" °f enrvatnre of antlers, fron ot 0 t,p, two feet three and a half inches. Dir et he! X i uppei palm, eiglit mclies. .Leno-th of rlo we ye inches. Girth at the root of antler,f e an , ^ 'SZ? ^'^"-■•'--'••Un>OM..'on,,tWi:cL ^u nbex of prongs at the tips, nne,p,al-three and two. At the upper pabns, three. On the lower palms seven processes, inelnding the principal point Compare with this, the measurements of the antlers ofavery fine specimen of fl,eoon,mn„ A • T Ocrvu. Viryiniann.. ^''""'"'''' '^'"■' Extreme width from tip to tip, eleven inches. Len..th of curvature along the back of antlers fron. root to tt t-eetandhalfaninch. Direct height, HfteeTi; 1 ' Observe however, that the greater curvature in the >>orns of the American deer, while it causes a lar" compa.-at,ve u.easurement, leaves a vast excess in height and show to the Cariboo. " In the Cariboo, moreover-see cnt-the strncture of ' -i Ill 26 AMERICAN GAME. tlie liorns is directly the reverse of tliat of any other palmatecl-liorned animal I ever remember to have seen ; as the Moose, the English Fallow-deer, and to the best of my recollection the Enrope-Asiatic Reindeer. In both the foraier of these animals, the broad palms form tlie extreme upper tips ; while the lower spurs and brow antlers are round prongs ; and, to the best of my mem- ory, the Keindeer has no very conspicuous palms at all. In our common deer, again, contrary to any other deer I have ever seen — except a very noble nondescript specimen recently sent from- Calcutta to the Spirit of the Times — the main branch of the antlers curves for- ward over the brow, offering the main defenses, the true brow antlers being mere erect prongs; while all the tines are posterior to the main branch. • In the American Elk, and in the British Stag, or Red- deer, and in all other round-horned deer I ever saw, the main antlers rise erectly, with a slight backward curve, the brow antler and all tlie other tines springing from it anteriorly, and forming the true weapons for the ani- mal's defense. Tlie Cariboo, therefore, presents a curious combination of the round-horned and palmated-horned deer, in the first instance ; and of the usual, and American, round- horn structure, in the second. First, it has the round, pointed tips and sharp, round prongs of the round-horned deer above, with the flat, leaf-like blades of the pal- mated-horned deer below. And, secondly, it has tho THE CARIBOO. 2r forward curve at the tips and backward proiiffs, above of the American round-horn, with the terrible brow antlers and forward tines of the usual structure below. Lastly, it differs from all in this— that its brow antlers, instead of dividing with an outward curve over and without each eye, close with a straight inward inclina- tion, until the tips almost meet, nearly in the centre of a brow. Once more, as to size, there are the leg, with hoof, pastern and cannon-bone of an ordinary sized Cariboo ; and the leg, with hoof, pastern and cannon-bone of an extraordinarily large-sized American deer, and as such selected, hanging side by side in Mr. Porter's office. The limb of the Cariboo is considerably more than one- third superior in size to that of the common deer, and is fully equal to that of a yearling heifer of the very larg- est stature, and from its peculiar structure, being cleft nearly the full length of the pastern to the fetlock-joint, would evidently leave a much larger track. I have seen and ridden aged thorough-bred horses of fourteen and a half hands— four feet ten inches high— whose limbs were in all respects inferior to that of this superb specimen of the deer tribe; and right confident am I, from observation of several of their heads, their hides and hoofs, that from fourteen and a half to fifteen hands will be found to be the average height of the Cariboo. If the Lapland Reindeer ever exceeds thirteen it will be surprising to me. While on this topic, how- 11 : i 28 AMEEICAN GAME. J I _ I ever, I will beg the first Canadian or Nova Scotian hunter whose eye this may meet, to furnish m'e with the full statements of height, weight and measurement of any Cariboo he may be so fortunate as to kill, or to have killed, during the present winter. Readers of Graham will find in the February number of the year 1852, a correct and spirited representation of the antlers of the English Eed-deer ; and, if they will look forward to the months of February and August of this volume, they will find those of the Moose and American Deer, de- signed by myself from the life, which will ftir more easily convey the comparison which I desire to draw, than written words. As regards the nature of the pelage, or fur, for it ia almost such, of the Cariboo, so far from its being, as the ^\'iseacre of the Encycloptedia states, remarkable for closeness and compactness, it is by all odds the loosest and longest haired of any deer I ever saw ; being, par- ticularly about the head and neck, so shaggy as to ap- pear almost maned. In color, it is the most grizzly of deer, and though comparatively dark brown on the back, the hide is gen- erally speaking, light, almost dun-colored, and on tlie head and neck fulvous, or tawny gray, largely mixed with white hairs. The flesh is said to be delicious ; and the leather made by the Indians from its skin, by their peculiar process, it3 of unsurpassed excellence for leggins, moccasons or THE CAKIUOO. 29 "t.ei IS the tamest and most ,^nr.;u ^ • A • JUUbC docile of Its o-ornifl +],« American Cariboo is tlie fieivo.t fl . / -t ' -ely p,„.uoa V,.,ito hu„tors,o I; ,'*'" "" eept through ea.nal good fortune- I, ,, f ?"' '•'" tl.o patience and iuL^tiT^^ ^r n ",™'=" to'-rawlon tl.n, ■ "'"''"'"«" enables them - awl on them unseen, «nsmclt-for the nose of tl,„ Canboo can detect the smallest t.int f -0-thing h„n.n at lea. two 1 "j; "'^ "f ;;;;.-tecl.B.botal.s alarm andlt:::;r:r no ne drean. of pursuing. ^ well pursue th win it e f I'"""' f ""^™"' ^^■"^"- " "' o" -hZ ^i' ^^oetn. onow-slioos oo-ni'ncf !>• i oiiucb ao.iinst him alone ivm'l i,vn i? the In T, '^'"'' ''"*''^'' ""troken; i„ which I.e ordly moose would soon flounder, should r deepV • "•«' I>.-essed, and the graceful deer ,v;„ld f 1 "ijc; and bleat in vain for n>erey ^JTl ^''" ''^^Pau- l""es and tamaracks-even as the desert shin T :"7' -"-» «- -> .^'."oon on thcl To' t^ and once started, n.ay be scon no n.ore by hunt nor ru,i down by fleetest feet of ^^'^'' P-sue him fVon^heir ,^; e „r:; ""' ""' ^' *"^^ s^'tjy carnal cjunps, nmvearied, I ^ 30 AMERICAN GAME. following his trail by the day, ],y the week, by the month, till a fresh snow effaces his tracks, and leaves the hunter at the last, as he was at the first of the chase ; less only the fatigue, the disappointment and the folly.' Therefore, by woodsmen, whether white or red skinned, he is followed only on those rare occasions when snows of unusual depth are crusted over to the very point at which they will not quite support this fleet and power- ful stag. Then the toil is too great even for his vast endurance, and he can be run down by the speed of men, inured to the sport, and to the hardships of the wilder- ness, but by them only. Indians by hundreds in the provinces, and many loggers and hunters in the Eastern States, can take and keep his trail in suitable weather— the best time is the latter end of February or the begin- ning of March ; the best weather is when a light, f^esh snow of some three or four inches has fallen on the top of deep drifts and a solid crust ; the fresh snow giving the means of following the trail ;. the firm crust yielding a sui3port to the broad snow-shoes and enabling the stalkers to trail with silence and celerity combined. Then they crawl onward, breathless and voiceless, up wind always, following the foot prints of the wandering, pasturing, wantoning deer ; judging by signs, unmistak- able to the veteran hunter, undistinguishable to the novice, of the distance or proximity of their game, until they steal upon the herd unsuspected, and either finish the day with a sure shot and a triumphant whoop ; or THE CARIBOO. 31 discover tliat the game has taken alarm and started on the jump, and so give it up in despair. One man perhaps in a thousand can still-hunt, or stalk. Cariboo in the summer season. He, when he' has discovered a herd feeding up wind, at a leisure pace and clearly unalarmed, stations a comrad in close am- bush, well down wind and to leeward of their upward track, and tlien himself, after closely observing their mood, motions and line of course, strikes off in a wide circle well to leeward, until he has got a mile or two ahead of the herd, when very slowly and guardedly, ob- serving the profoundest silence, ho cuts across their direction, and gives them his wind, as it is technically termed, dead ahead. Tliis is the crisis of the affair- if lie give the wind too strongly, or too rashly, if he make the slightest noise or motion, they scatter in an instant, and away. If he give it slightly, gradually, and casu- ally as It were, not fancying themselves pursued, but merely approached, they merely turn away from the re- mote Conger, and instead of flying, feed away from it, working their way down wind to the deadly ambush, of which their keenest scent cannot, under such circum- stances, inform them. If he succeed in this inch by inch he crawls after them, never pressing them, or draw- ing in upon them, but preserving the same distance still, still giving them the same wind as at the first, so that he creates no panic or confusion, until at length, when close npon the hidden peril, his sudden whoop sends them 82 AMl-ililCAN GAME. ! licadloii^^ down tlic doccitl'iil breeze upon tlio treacher- ons rifle. Ot'uU woad-criift, none is so difficult, none requires so rare a combination as this, of (juickuess ot'sio'lit, wariness of tread, very instinct of tlie ci-aft, and perfection of judo-ment. AVIien resorted to, and performed to the ad- miration even of woodmen, it does not succeed once in a liundred times— therefore not by one man in a tliousand is it ever resorted to at all, and by him, rather iji the wantonness of wood-craft, and by way of boastful experi- ment, than with any hope, much less expectation of suc- cess. For once, in my illustration, the trick has been played, and the game wins— the whoop is pealing on the wind beyond the dark, sheltering pines and hemlocks— the herd is scattered to the four winds of heaven — but the monarch of the wilderness, the prime bull of the herd, bears down in his headlong terror full on the ambushed rifle. Lo ! with how brave a bound he clears tliat prosti'ate log. But the keen eye of the woodman is upon him ; another moment, and it shall glare along the deadly rifle ; the sharp, short crack shall awake the echoes of the forest, and ere they shall have subsided into silence, the pride of the woods shall have gasped out his last sigh on the gory green-sward. But this you will say is fancy— scarcely fact. Be it so. What follows shall be fact, not fancy. For I shall TilE CAJUUOO. 88 ii; i beg cavo to placing ,.,-s foot i,: , ot , !" 'T" "''• ™ '"'"' -t"o"t the s.i«„to:i L :„ ": ■"^^'^"^ ^"•' '"--^«<' «P to tl.o wai^t in enow. ;: 2n7 "°"""'"""' "ont more fosh, „nd the „V 1 T" ""'' '""" «."'lo pned far into tl.e dc^ of '^.//"V.^'S-''^-""-^ «.*„i„.e cast himself at Conlrontr '" """• remained so lon^ in that „„.;*• T^ ° '"°''^' «'"' -y head out of the 1 0^""' ' "'"°"^""^ *•"•»«' t>.o Indian glared a 1 >," "'"' ""^ ""^ »»«» ^ "^"^ Howard, in iiT^^irrr'f^""""'''-"^ being qnite open, SabatisI ""*' *'"' ^^-^ nowmadeforaiar'opi ! ?/''" «'« C-iboo, and -vement, as i e "r ^^ , U^T '''""'''■ ''^^ «.e -ow, were snake-nS ' d ! ft"" 7 '" '"^"^ '" -far as possible to imit te ^7 • ""' ""'''''^°""« ^W At last I eangl t St of 7' "^'""*^ -"'- a large herd of 18 or 20 ,?"'"=• ""'^^ ^'^'-o the b-ehes-otii ;;::::*»"«-•'«* «- licking their dart-brown Z^^- T"' "'"'"'"' '""^'' ' «''''^.)' Jactets, and combing 'ili 36 AMERICAN GAME. 11: n tliem with tlioir noble antlers. All appeared uncon- scious of the approach of their most deadly foes, save one noble bull, the leader of the herd. He seemed sns- picioiis-with head erect, eyes darting in every direction, c^irs wagging to and fro, and nostril expanded, he snufted the breeze. Upon this splendid creature the Indian kept ins eye, never venturing to move, save when the head 01 the Cariboo was turned away. Inch by inch we ap- preached the tree. Oh! the agony of suspense I suf- icreil 111 those few miiintcs ! "At length we readied onr shelter. Ifo time was lost Howard signed to me to single out a Cariboo, win e he took the iioblo leader, whieh was about 100 yards distant-the Indian reserving his fire We sta tioued ourselves each side of the tree, and our rifles exploded almost at the same moment. Springing up to soe tlie efleet of my shot, I was pulled down ty the Indian ; what was ray astonishment to see the hull Howard had fired at, stamping the snow and gating around, with fire and rage in hi., eye, in search of hit ndden enemy. As I looked at his formidable antlers lus majestic height, and great strength-a thoiiglit of our helpless situation crossed my mind. Tlio Indian now rested his gun quietly on the tree, and took a loiic steady aim-the cap alone exploded with a sharp crack! Quick as lightning the bull discovered our ambush, and with a loud snort made directly for ns. Defence or re- ti'eat against such a foe, in our situation, up to the waist 37 TIIE CAEIHOO. in snow, was almost impossil)lp t -tic. of t.o e„™,ec, Lritu, ^rtr"' '''^ --eel «,o urn b, the .„..Io. sil ^^^ '"'" -'« -. ^■a. ii^r::;, :;j::;\r ^"^^^^^- matcli for tlio oiir..^.^ . ' ^"^ ^^^ ^^'^s no ti.e poor little f How onl ' ""^ ^'"•''^°° "^^^^ "0 avail, the bull reared, aud w a'luf f "' Bucli a shower of oni.l- I , """"'"S'' ''"»!' Poeted to see tl e d r , '"""'"' ''°"-»' «"" I -- Y;;--oudeavo^edtoi:;X^^^^ of the bull was too quick • wl,„ i- -^"t the eye -de a rush at Sabatis e .1.:^ ^ irf,' " ^""'"■"="' '- but was avoided by hi, f 1 ""'' '''™ ««™"s, riboo passing e b "af "' f "" '"" '"'=«' "^ ^a: ,„1 -1 TV ""'• ^TOundini? his bael' l\r ^^^"1« Howard had loaded, but his rifl > "" -et, he could not dischar. T , """"^ '^^""^ «'^ Cariboo had b,thisrbro':i::t;d7rr^ and the furious beast now turned t! ' *'"«' • -but before he could rel ' '"'"''"'« ^"*'a» at bis head, eh chi t T T ^"''' '" "°» ^^ «««- Sabatisie on s ^ '" "°' f° PP"'=' ''- ■"-! ca..er. "" ills ivnee received the sl.n .7- i ~, raspin, the bull b, the ;:;,::;::;:; ,t 38 AMERICAN GASIE. down ; when Howard sprung forward and plunged his knife to the hilt in the breast of the Cariboo. With a last miglity effort, the noble creature dashed the Indian in the air, and the next moment his own stiong limbs were quivering in death. "From the commencement of this burst, I confess, I was a little agitated— so much so, that I had not coolness sufficient to tie on my snow-shoes, or load my riflo ; but let not any blame me until they themselves have had the pleasure of being placed in the same delicate situa- tion, up to the waist in snow, and one of those emperors of the deer tribe dancing round in mad fury, threatening instant annihilation. On examination, we found How^ ard's ball had taken effect just behind the shoulder, and would have caused death in a short time. " 'Hillo! old boy, are you hurt?' said Tom Howard, seeing the Indian still on his back. "'Cariboo sartain levy sh^ong,' grunted the poor fellow. His back was much lacerated. « Brother cut some gum, and soon be well,' said Sabatisie. " Howard gathered some balsam formed by the sap running from the bark of the fir-tree, and spreading it on a piece of his handkerchief, formed a strong adhesive plaster-staunching the blood, he placed it on the wound. "'And now, Meadows, what has become of your game— think he is hit V " ' Yes, by Jove, I'll bet my rifle to a pop-gun he is^ "FT TIIE CARIBOO. 39 for see, Billj has settled down on his track, and is in chase. " ' On with your snow-shoes, and away !— the track with the blood will be plain as a van wagon — if you come up with the Cariboo, do not fire unless you are sure to kill. I must stop and see if the Indian is much hurt, and swab out my rifle— but I will soon overtake you — away now !' " So urged, I started off, and found large drops of blood on the track the prime little dog had taken. As I proceeded, I saw the strides of the Cariboo were shorter, and he had been down several timcL. As I pressed on, in great hopes of overtaking the game before Howard came up, I observed the Cariboo had made for the valley, and after a sharp walk of an hour, I came to the stream, which was open. Here I lost the track, but saw the marks of the dog down the stream— these I followed, and soon heard the baying of the dog. As I proceeded, the river was every moment more rapid. After a sharp turn the stream was compressed between two huge clifts, and rushed down a water-gap, forming a cascade of nearly one hundred feet. To the very verge of the fall the river was open ; but over the fall itself there was a thin coating of transparent ice, which clung to the perpen- dicular cliffs on each side of the narrow gap, forming a gauze-like veil. The towering cliffs around were covered with a frosting of ice ; and from the stunted pines which clung to the barren rock, hung myriads of fantastic 40 AMEKICAN GAME. I icicles. At the foot of the fall, the blue water rushed out, dashing the white foam many feet in the air; and through the thick woods which overhung the cascade, the sun cast his rajs upon the gorgeous prospect, making every object throw forth a thousand brilliant shades and the glittering ice which encircled the fall was so transparent, that the blue water could be seen beneath daslnng furiously down, as if enraged at restraint. Kot ten feet from the verge of the fall, on a rock in the centre of the river, stood {he wounded Cariboo The water around him was fearfully rapid-one false step would carry him under the ice, and down the flill On the bank stood the dog : my first care was to secure him as he appeared ready every instant to make a sprinc^ that must have been fatal. The Cariboo had chosen a most admirable place of retreat ; notliing living could approach him with safety. On each side the perpen- dicular cliifs towered many feet over his head-before him the roaring torrent, and behind the ice-bound cata- ract. After feasting my eyes on this wild and romantic scene, I ap])roached as near the fall as the rugged cliff would permit. The Cariboo saw me, and with glaring eye-balls he shook his branching antlers in impotent rage, presenting to my rifle his broad front, as in defi- ance. I am not ashamed to say I was happy when I glanced at the rapid water and rugged cliff between me and my devoted prey ; for I have no doubt, had it been in his power he would have soon shortened the distance 1 THE CAKIUOO. 41 Detwoen „s-a,ul after what I luad so lately .itnos.od, I '- "o very great de-sire (seeing I wa. „ot as yet a perfect -rfo,„,n o„ s„ow.hoe,) to play the sa.ne ga Je ov T" -«' -y friend on the roet. To put „„°encl to hi ucnt I could see, through the transparent ice, his olossy liide gUding down the cascade." , " ^ '.'' C-'-'I^oo; and thus, pray for me, that I „.«„ ^iu -ne, or ere a year he flown. If I a., holieve .no, I w . to tell you how 1 did it, as well-better I u ay no tell yoa-as Meadows. And so, until next. onth^ I II. FEBRUARY. Cervua Alces. NORTHERN WILDERNESS, BEYOND THE OTTAWA; NEW- FOUNDLAND TO NEW YORK. i Anaa Canadensis, NORTH AMERICA, ARCTIC REGIONS, MOUTHS OF THE MISSISSIPPI. I 9 ♦if * a; a en O O as Pi U3 en O O y THE MOOSE DEER C'enus AUos. Tins gigantic deer, tl,o largest of all the deer tribe ™r] wluch is disti„g.,i.,ed fro.„ al, others not on WW h -agn,fieenee of its dimensions, but by the taet l^^l the only one of the genus which is uncouth in its fo m ungracfnl in its attitudes, and awkward -.nd ,, , in its action and gait is idonti.,' ""gainly ; e El. of Europe, no distinction bein;T,:r::: t>.o closest exannnation. It n.,st, hoCevc, ou o count be confounded with the great Wap ti Deer or ospect d.ftcrent and distinct. The Moose-deer, wh ch >n he Algonqum tongue, ,«„.,„, ;, entirely a Northern and .nore especially a North-Eastc™ aninfal, 1^'Z aUnulant ,n the British Provinces of Nova Scotra a 2 rV", "" ^^""-'-"^I'l-cLftlJ: of N w York beyond which to the westward it is neve found south of the St. Lawrence, nor I think is there any reason to believe that its range has ever extende LT M I ■'' AMERIOAN GAME. the west of this limit or sontliward to tlio Atlantic coast. In Lower Canada, on both sides of the St. Lawrence helow Qiiehec, and on the north side so far as to Mon- treal, it is exceedingly abundant, bnt to the westward of that city it is rarely if ever found sonth of the great Ottawa river. A single Moose was killed during the sunnner of 1849 by an Ojibwa Indian on the Severn river, which debouches into the north side of the great Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, the skull of which I saw nijself, and it was asserted by the Indians generally, that none of the race had been killed within the last «% years, at nearly which distance of time it was a ti-aditional belief that one had been killed, a straggler, in the same vicinity. To the northward of this they roam as far toward the pole as the forest region extends, the Moose being, as we shall see when we come to speak of his structure and habits, as much adapted to the forest, as is the American Elk, or Wapiti, Cervus Cana- densis^ to the prairie. The original limits of these two great deer would seem to have been originally almost identical as to their frontiers, the one beginning exactly where the other ceases to exist, and the one being as remarkably a western as the other is an eastern animal. The Elk was found originally from the western regions of Pennsyl- vania, if not throughout all the inland portions of that state, through all the intermediate states, a little way back from the sea-board, of Virginia, Kentucky, and • THE MOOSE CEEB. Tennesaoo, in all of wliid, if i.„ you i>as8 the Affe8i»«i„„i , " "'''"""' nnt'l """cation of i ov'e ' ' '" ''"''' «« ^ «"'' "o f«nc.rit,.3„:;:e:::7i-;^^^ r-ench term ^,,,„«, ",." "^^ '"^;;". »l'P"-'.on of the Wond doubt rcallv If ; f "'" "•"■■»«'. which is animal being, i„ I [ "fJ"" '« «'« Moose, that Europe, m„rhavi :;, i'l^^'V''^^^^-^"'"- E"c of -'"e,. of the red deer Tf ""^ ™"'"' ''™»cl,in« -'"ch animal it bears a very sZ"' ^'T' ^"''"''"' '" 'n its vast superiority of si J Tf ""'""«^' "'"^ ^•^''Pt Tl'e Moose is the Ll 1 1 , J ™""""- bull standing full „;„,," , "" "'" '' ■''"■J^ward, -'«' >'i-h„rt, sturd ;: "r '->" ^-^o the air ''o™. are rested in sLrdo! "^'''''''^' '' "''•" «'« -^y he supposed Cre ^^ l^^ "^ "^"el, partly it '0 av„i<, entanglement amonl I, "?""' *™^' P"^"/ ^ten.« of the cedar-swamr w , T' "'™" ""<''^-»' T'.ose horns they sheH L:! , T """ ''■«• ye.-"-, and annually renew t, ' 'l'""« "^ "'« with a soft velvot-lL fu, ' , •?'*'=" '"="'« ^"^^red t-«'or, and gaining 1 a rVnt """ "^ ^"""»" -' ™«"«--,whie;oceu n 1 r""^^' "'" "^ '''^ ->'>™n, they are perfect in si t T'""'/':'' "''^"^^ pons of offence. At this ,„ t ? *°"""'»We as wea- -.•■•"S and bellowti -r / ^ '""^ ""^ ''« '"-■<' «- -ges which t^;" ;z^;r'"r"'"'"^"'-=-»^ ---Wand:-— 2--- 50 AMEKICAN GAME. sultans meet in tlie presence of ii single sultana, woe to the weaker, for lie must needs go to the wall after a desperate conflict, fought out, as if by the kniglits of old, in the presence of the queen of love if not of beauty, whose caresses are to be the reward of the victor. Of this propensity foresters take advantage in the sea- son, by imitating the call of the cow Moose, which is easily done by blowing a peculiar note through a com- mon cows-horn, the end of which is partially immersed in water, or on a trumpet made of birch or alder bark for this very purpose by the Indians, who are great adepts at its use, and rarely foil to extract a reply from the bulls, and ultimately to lure him up within a tow feet of the circle of hemlock or codar-boua'hs anion o- which they await liis coming full of amorous fury and proud defiance, with the ready gun, which soon levels his branched honors in the dust. It not unfrecpiently happens that two bull Moose will be attracted by the same call, will bellow their responses to it tlirough the echoing ravines and gorges, and will finally tear down through the rent and crashing under-' wood, and meeting with a roar of defiance do battle at outrance in the presence of the ambushed enemy, avIio watches for his advantage at every instant of the fray, and rarely fails to bring down both of the competitors for an imaginary fair one, by a cowardly and ignoble triumph. And a magnificent spectacle it must be to witness, alone and unassisted in the depths of the pri- THE M008E DEER. 61 li. meval forest, in tlie gray and silvery moonlight, or in the purple dawn of autumnal morning, tlie fierce and noisy jousting of two of these great forest champions. There is another mode of pursuing these great deer during tlie summer season, when they wade into the deep waters to eschew the myriads of flies, which is spoken of with rapture by those who have enjoyed it — ■ that is, to make the wilderness your home, your hemlock- bed and bark-roofed camp your dwelling-place, and with canoe, and rod, and rifle, stealthily to paddle along the winding water-courses, keeping as much as possible within the shadows of the shore, and under the protec- tion of the overhanging branches, when you can often ■eal up within easy gun-shot and bring them down with one well-directed bullet. The liberty, the independence, the rapturous excitement of this sort of life is entirely indescribable ; the delight with which you sleep in the free, fresh, odoriferous air of the forest, with your soft, elastic hemlock-bed — sure preventive of all rheumatic pains — beneath you, and. the blue vault, with all its diamond stars above you ; the zest wdth wliicli you enjoy the meal of fresh trout from the river, or sweet digestible wild meat from the woods, the fruits of your own prowess ; the health, ilie strength, the energy of mind and body which you earn by your rugged toil, and rude though, savory food ; the perfect sense of hardihood and self-reliance, which you derive from thus owing every thing that ministers to your enjoyment, to your £2 AMEJilCAN GAAIE. own Skill and manhood; then wit!) fh. i . nor anxieties, nor ailin^s .„,. "^ '™'"^'' the ringing 0 door-be !^; '"'™"^-*"»'- *'--' -i* advent of „atuZ? >"'-»-"able l.onrs, and the t-^e utterjrr: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ a»d the tormentors o/ heLLVl/e'T'' "' "'"''' "•an, unknown to the forest J^'t T "'^ ^'^""*^- its hardy ],o,>,„ ,•„, , ' ""' '"* »' ""^^ fl^fianee by ^^eJ> Wines, the ^natt s ^' ^r ^ 'T ■ ''^ fo>- my .distress, and ,„y trnstTS ; "' '"^ "''' "nd »y g„i,,e . ,„,, „// ^ ^"''"'" ^°'- my comrade c'eep-pi;:, .:;,;': :r.„r r '■' t'-'"^- ™' - "The life in the.oodTfo: me :' '"'^ "^ ''^ ^"'''"'^^^■ winter of ins disconT ! , ""^-paradise, and the ■^■'versaries,::;— ;:-^^^^^^^^^ their strength of wind and limb *nd r " ""'" '"^ j THE MOOSE DEEE. 53 into pamful fl„„„clcri„gs tl.rongh deep snowdrifts, oryet more painful plunging, and breakings through the ,4- aco crusted with glassy ice, wlien the trees on which to browse are few and far between, no sooner do the tirst snows begin to fall than the Moose resort to one of two plans, each equally ingenious and equally adapted to the nature of the ground for which they are intended. If a bull autends wintering by himself, as sometinies occurs, wherelore we know not; he seeks out some hill, and crosses and a-ecrosses it a hmulred times from summit to base, and from base to sununit, and then girdles it with a hundred of parallels, intersecting the perpendiculars, all of slowly naade and deeply trodden foot-paths, trampled down and beaten again, after each fresh suc- ceeding snow-fall, till the whole snowy hill is cut „p and checkered into a net-work of firm, hard-trotted paths, _ along which he can travel at whatever pace he lists whether la.ily lounge along to browse on the succulent shoots or pounding away at his hard swinging trot, with Ins WKle-spread hoofs crackling at every track, in lull liiS It from his pursuers, at a rate of eight or nine miles an hour, with the advantage still of feeding as he o.oes snatching a juicy morsel from every favorite btash at ho cUisJies iiloiig. When the Moose adopts this mode of wintering, nnless be party of hunters is sufHciently strong to post a num- ber ot persons on different stands along the Moose-paths to intercept him as he tracks their labyrinthine ways, it H AMEKICAJ^ GAME. availslMeor„oil,;„gtoatte„,,th;,„.fo..„., • «'■« so ],nrd „« to receive no / ^ ""' ""'"' "'« I''''"'' -'" keep on rJ^:i^Z^7T''' "'" "^ ''"°*^' ^"^ i« l^y ya..di,K, Ti r ' ?■""■' *'"'■ "'*''" *» --te.', -t".g in Je e° If '■'""""• ""'"'"^'■'^' "^"^ -'- ° g«"eial of ojie old hull * yo">,ger „,ak.s, three or fo,„. ''""'/«'« <>■■ three several years LoJ '"'' "'"^ ^"^ "»•>■'=« o*' O'' three yea.' oid-and ef /"" ""'■' ^''^^-^ '- spaces, well and re." J^ ' T","^, '"'''' °'' '"«'« sunk between w.ll, "of ^ "' "' *""' "^^ «^ '» l-e -nin, within t:;r::Tr::r t'"^-''^'^°"- afford ample pasture for the h d^^ ", """"''' '" tinuance of the eold , . ""^ "'" ^"''"'^ <=on- s«r until ti J :rj::t'' ■?"' '■ "" "^^^ '-^ ■-- of the .nows. ^P"»S-tMne and the uielting ----.-n,arelnt:.uth:i: -^^^^^^^^^^^ 1 THE aiOOSE DEEE. 55 tlie fortuitous result of circumstances, rather tlian auy peculiarities of instinct or sagacity in the animals to winch tliey are ascribed. These persons contend that the net-work of paths, after the manner described above, intersecting and checkering, whole mountain-sides, are naturally produced by the rov- ing perambulations of the great deer; and are not made hy Inm, witli any design of future focilities in obtainino- forage, but simply in the course of present search for it" Farther, they declare that the yards are not formed, or even nsed, as a temporary winter habitation, from which tJie animals do not wander during the contimiance of cold weather; but attribute their occurrence merely to the unavoidable stamping to and of a family, or a small herd, of tliese nol)le cervines, over the snowy surface of some si>ot which has casually attracted them by the abundance of succulent food offered by its underwood; and that they cpiit such places, from time to time, in their ordinary rambles; and entirely, for another Ld better place, so soon as its supj^lies are exhausted. This, I regard, the truer and more philosophic view. These yards are carefully hunted out by the' Canadian Indians, and the tidings are brought into the garrison toAms, and received with a perfect burst of enthusiasm by the officers of lier majesty's regiments quartered there and having little to relieve the monotony of winter ex' cept curling or tandem-driving, unless when a chance of a Moose-hunt raises a gay alarum. 56 AMICKTCAN OAJIE. nin nMin- epWt-flasl«, tl,o lohno. " "'"numitio.,, the '%l.t wood, to bo ArS: T "'«"■'' '"""« °f ;.-o...t; jtt::::: ::4::«^^^^^ less enow-clml wilJerno,, ti ,""''' ''™'"'. bound- tI'olIo,.ine. bowl at ,„>:,t ™, L ™*''™"* !">«' ^^ «™ beside tl,e roaZ'J^' ;'*•"'' "^ '^""■"' -" - fovo and . u.n,..j:::2't:z:t:r"'-- m mortal terror. Aivw ),o i ° f""'*^ «' "'eir speed fleet snow-shoes, ft ow tC "" ™' '™^^^' ''^■"■^' - hunters. "" ""'I'^'oous ai>d shunting ' Sometimes for da vq f 7. of 1 -,i -ear, beasts and ^^ t, rt"'^ "'^^^ <^"""-' «- P-baps not a ,p,arter of a ," I ' ""f "^ °" "'"''"P"'^-' them and tl,e/ean n,n L "™"<'«'' ^>'''«" 'ight fails dawn rene .-i^a d '""' ""' '"''' *« "reak of = the .uld career for life or death, for do. I THE MOOSE DEER. feat or ignomiiiions glory. Tl striplings, Init liard Avork f( y. That is 110 57 sport for bojs or Avork for strong, scout-iiearted men. But the sccce and the pl„ck of ,„an prevail., in the end; one ly one the boasts are overhauled, the heaviest trst and the weakest, a rifle-shot, and a shrill "who- wLoop announees the fall of the forest king_a slash of tlie keen knife steeps the snow with his life-blood, and away, away, over the erackling erust, with the keen win- ters wnul warming itself against your face, and your heart thrdhng with a rapture unknown to the la4rd lounge,, of eity sidewalks, unsuspected by the sordid and selfish voliiptuaiy. Sueh, friends, is the winter Moose-hunt of the Cana- dian w:l,lerness. Try it, friends, once, and my life on it, eaeh sneceeding winter will find you rifle in hand, and snow-shoe on foot, in the interminable forest northward of Quebec, stretching thence on unbroken to the Arctic seas-for verily it is the king of American field-sports ill I THE CANADA GOOSE. Anas Canadcnsh. Tins h tJie bird known iiniver.allv i^ oom,„o„ d,„„o,He goose of ou. 1,,. v- . " " ;""tt.o,a„do. do not become i^^^^^^^^^^^^ 'owl ; on tl,is, however „n ,7- *• .• ° "'" "'''*' s..l>ported; fo.it rr,; """"" "*' »"■«■'" ^"" be J i- , ioi It Ls well uiuleretood that onn «*• .1 ee.iuenees of domestication is that in7 '""■ era:ion.s it converts .nim, if '"■"'"'' "''fc-^"- ? I I 4 i I o o tq ;;i is ¥ i." " \r ;|| I J, I r^ J Tins CANADA GOOSE. 69 brocding-njroundrt lay in that country, and in tlio vicinity of the Grout Lakes. Sinco tlio period, liowever, when those provinces have become more thickly nettled, moro observation has been bestowed on the haunts, habits, and migrations of birds ; and it is now well ascertained that, although a few stragglers may breed in various seques- tered spots both in the States and in the Canadas, all the main hordes proceed still northward beyond the ntmost habitations of man, beyond the limits of the Arctic Cir- cle, perhaps beyond the Polo itself, there to nestle and rear the young in the untrodden solitudes, where no breath of humanity has ever polluted the pure air, amid the brief but delicious summer of the* polar regions, where they rejoice—to quote the eloquent words of Mr. Giraud, in his birds of Long Island—where they rejoice in " the absence of that great destroyer, rain, while the splendors of a perpetual dry May render such regions the most suitable to their purpose." The Canada Goose, though rare, is not unknown in Northern Europe, or even in England, where it is very frequently domesticated as an ornament on artificial lakes, within the boimds of parks and pleasure-grounds. Li unusually severe winters, it is sometimes killed on the sea-coasts and on the inland lakes of Scotland, and the north-eastern parts of England, though not in such numbers as to constitute it an object of regular pursuit. Nor is its flesh there considered a luxury, whether that from change of climate and diet, it really becomes rank 60 AMEEICAK GAME. l-^t and jv.,-c,, „ovo.. ranCrml' 1T " ""<'"■ ^ons consider an abomination. '"'™^ ^''■ Tiio breoding-grounds oftlie Canidn r . , - yet been, and probably never vHIb!' '" "'''^'• er.,vise than nec^ativelv n „ ascertained oth- -ebo..an'sC.HCtX'r'''r''^-''°"''"'<' Lowever nortberlv to , ?• , , ^' '' ^""'^ "° Point ^^iWn,in,;l J' ™ r '^ "'^""^'" ^^^-^ «e Circle, and were b "^^ ""."' Y' " -'«'- «- Are- "orth. Captain W ' ""= *''''"' ^''''y ^*''" ^'Aer v-aptain Pbipps speaks of seein-. Wilrl n feeding at the water's edo-e on th. ,1 """' bergen, in lat. 80» 27' iTis ,1, T"^ ""''' "' ^J^"^' *-« «.oir .nigratioi^o ,:'S^f;:: ;'*'^ wT"^^^^" desolations of unknown eonntl si ^ 1""' T "'"■' tion to the prvinc ev» .*• !' ""'^ '"= <='-ea- porable barri.^: onT;.. """ '^ ""'-'"""^ ^^^ "-> •-ucurs ot JJellisle and tlip a^^ ^f rt -^.totheOsageWwestwardi^lfjriirL:: 61 THE CANADA GaoSE. of the seasons themselves ,.1 ? i-egnlarity -'-. a,> ... ,,. en: 's :i 1! r '"^- -^ ">-• opposing to the cu„.e,r „f t 1 ^ "?'°""^' -'■owy point of their wed " I-e f "' "^ ""* hoarse "honk" -rf t,,„T , fornmt.ons, .vhile the from the re r o^ he I tt" r"' ''''''"' ''"''"''■''' »=-- K-,i„g:2i :'t•1'''■'^•^"^"«°-^- — , sweeping otwarl tW "rr ""''' pigmy heads. -^ ^ ^"^^^^ <>u^ i^ayous of theVojti :: tr'r™"" '^^"^^ »^ tlms eloquently s„nw, ""''"'^'■" ''""x^^. the welLZved an T T W"P™t«l-et 'anreat, inown whe esoel ; >"-'■•""«"'-' ^Portsman bard -tri,j;::::;:i— --^^ Heaven's Ik^ht horse in n , "'*'^ ''''^"^ ^^o^^ff J R„f +1 , . " ^^"^ proud y roll But the rushing flight that's in your si 'ht d 7 , n your sight, IS that shall wake your soul. 62 AMEKICAN GAME. Aud not a breast „„ wave shall rest, until that heaven is on,-,. Hawnk! Hawnk! E-oHawnk!" And this, but with the smallest tincttn-e of poetieal extravaganee and lieense, is a fair and con-eet pict» " he,r vernal north™.., ntarch ; for although te'r i uth pay us of the n,idla:.d seaboards a 1., vi^^ soon as our sea bays are clear of ice tnd do n n " stnn " „,„i t ' ™ occasionally s op, and at great peril to themselves, " drop by stool or hassoclc hoarv " «t;il ti,„- • ^ •'^ noaiy, still theu- spring sojourn with us is ot short duration. Early in April they collect til -Ives in vast flocks, soar skyward, and^rea • g i 2 wedge-shaped phalanxes, headed by the stronges: ^l ers, winch are hourly relieved by their conCdes 1 tl. t eacli of tlie males in his turn takes his h 4 "■ arduous toil of breasting foremost the resistance ti atmosphere, and opening the path for his followers Little stmt they of force, little stay make they, unless for necessary food and rest by night, or when bewilde" V dense togs and unable therefore to steer northward -re truly than the needle to the pole, until they .^ nortlieri, shores of Lake Huron and the wirs o e G leat Georgian Bay, where they remain for some *"ne. longer or shorter, according to the state of the THE CANADA GOOSE. 63 season, and the gradual disappearance of the ice, aiford- ing, meantime, sport and feubsistenee to the Indians, wl,o I'addle stealthily „pon tliem in tlieir birch canoes, or Bhoot them from bough-houses eonstrueted on points >yh.eh command their favorite feeding grounds in the nee lakes and flats around the moutlis of the Northern the Wye, the Severn, and their neighboring affluents. ' Ihenee, so soon as the ice disappears, they are up and away, and are no more seen by the eyes of man, except as they sweep across the marshy plains about the dis- l^rsed and distant forts of the fur companies, until in October, they recommence their earlier voyagings, now journeying sontlnvard with recruited strength and ang- mented numbers, for now each noisy gander and his mate are accompanied by two full-grown and full-feath- ered goslings, and tarrying scarcely for a moment on Ue great lakes, or in the inland waters, until they roach their favorite autumnal haunts in the great south bay of Long Island, and all along the inlets and lagoons of the Jersey shore, Scjuam Beach, and Barnegat, and the two Egg Harbors, wliere they disport themselves, and revel in the sheltered waters, and grow fat on the broad, ten- der leaves of tlie sea-eabbage, a common marine plant which grows about the stones and shells on the sea- beaches, and on the roots of the sedges, which they are constantly seen in tlie act of tearing up, and occasionally make excursions to the inlets on the beach for sand and gravel, until these inland bays are frozen over solidly H ^^mCiN GAME. tt If 11 II with contimioiis ice fnvhnv % more south;.,,, yet 1^" '" '"'^'^ "™=" -'d tempest eo,„eth ' ^"'"^ "° ^'^^ "» "orth-oast about Loug Isiaud l,v „' ^''^ '""■"^^ed, especially «eewhie,;„:lfJ7J }--;-'« ^'^^'^^ »<• -« «- ^'a«Shter o' t,2^ :Xp^^ -'' -t'essth.^' fel'mg theu. from re<..ionsT, """^™""''' '^ ^"^' "«»- -tries out and o r.^T' """ ^" '"^"- -'«"«" V volleys from unseen! '' "' ''^'=™»'«<1 '"""•ly TI.e worst ,„ T ""^"^Pected foes. ^ 't- iioist, most murderous on,) 7„ . «" these artifiees is "tAe l2Tl ' ^P°'''»>-->'^'y of . vainty proscribed and Z^t "? ^"«""' '-«" ""t ->at.u-es, but still i„ „ e Tr ,\ " """^ '^°'' = ^'^^- tl-ough the shrewder if 1 , '" ^°"« ^''""d ^"■•'tei-B, •^-se,men,tolerate; :t::::T"^'^^^^'-«''-^ -i'-l' «till swarm wit hrtT^T" """ '°'^'^' Je«. in the Long Island bay ^^ ^ '"'" ^"^^^ ""^ Ihe battery," says a good wi-iter in tl,» « • • T-mes, "is formed of a deal bn^ 7 '""' <'^"'« ""- -cle, and two de.^^ fr' ^ f "^ ^^^^ ^^^ '""g, fonn of board runs off a ;h '\' "■" "*' ''"'^ ^'Piat- ever^ side, and the iute ^t 'r f :* "'"" ^'^ ^<^«' "' %"t. a.is is moored so nT t^, *° f""^- ■'' -- ^e obseryod to be in the hlbV 7 " ""^ '''"'^ the habit of resorting, and bal- THE CANADA GOOSE. 65 •^ 1 lasted with stones until the phatform merely floats upon the surface of the water ; this fiat surface is then lightly covered with sedge, so that at a very short disLico nothing but a small quantity of apparently floating weed is discernible." Into this destructive machine, having arranged his carved and painted wooden decoys, or " stools," around It, the gunner descends with his guns, and lying flat on his back, awaits, from before the first glimmer of dawn the arrival of the Geese on their feeding grounds, which he butchers by scores or even hundreds, while tliey are floating here and there feeding unsuspiciously. When It is considered that on every shoal on wliich fowl can feed tliroughout the Long Island waters, two or three of these murderous contrivances are anchored, so that the iowl can never feed in cpiiet-and at no other period are fowl so jealous of disturbance as while feeding- and that they are, moreover, constantly harassed at the same delicate period by being shot at from sailing-boats ninning down among tliem before the wind, before they are aware, it is no wonder that they should rise hio-h into th^ air, and deserting these inhospitable purlieus seek safer places, where, if they be shot at fiercely, and compelled to run the gauntlet of innumerable fires, as they fly to and fro from beach to feeding-ground, and from feeding-gromid to beach, they are at least allowed to feed m peace and without molestation. The mode practiced in the Jersey waters is this, and 6« AMERICAN OAJIIE. market. ''jw^i not tor_^oi! or Niches are cut in tlio m,„l i . i winch the fowl flv from ^ T ' "' ^"""*'' """'' and vice vcr.a • i , T ' "'f *" ""' '««'">g--^-o"nd., «K.ir deck, „Ie I';, ' ' ''""'"•'' "''■""" "' *"'-«, tl.e water aro.„„, ,„ , „, V f?''' """""'' '" with the hobbin, of , e 1; ; '"^ '"' "" "'"' *"™ «al flock of fowl rid „., •' ''"'''^ '•"^«'"''>« " steal «po. the ,ra,omf^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Of the gander reaches the hj ; 1 ^^ "V t^the. :.si-:-:-:^.-..e„ --e:e:::;::L;:rer"^f-- e?g-shell, and coch his " ^"%e-eovered duck gnns. "Av , , ^ ?''""' ^"'S'-'>""-e"ed ft '»• Aw-iiidji aw-unk!" tlio lo.„i;„ answers-" Aw-„nk 1 E-e-awnk i" = **'""'''' Kear by thej- come and nearer -'now 1 circular sweej, of their v.^t „ ' • "'" ""^ *'"= ' W the stools and ,: r:^ '"7"^' »"' "- ".oy tJ.e% .toop toward t],em-,„a!, m :^3m. THE CANADA GOOSE. 67 panseand hover, lialf suspicious-thoy are alamed, tl.oy seem about to t,.rn. Oli ! most exciting instant. "Aw-unk! aw-unk!" E-e-awnk!" Tliat admirable mim.cry has now suceeedod. They are decided-they wIieel-6toop-uow-now-Iie can see tlieir very eyes IXpgoes tlie heavy gnn, and the loud roar, that harbin- gers the flight of five o.. of BB, is as the knell to the eadmg gander, and three that fly the next behind him Up starts the ambushed enemy, sei.es his second piece,' sights ,t almost by instinct, and the flash and tlie roar are snn„ltaneous_and, "By Heaven! it .«<,,„ Geese-" as I once heard old Jesse shout at Barnegat, on a day when, with a trusty con.rade, we slew „s twenty Geese, and well on to a hundred Black Duck, Scaup, a-d Bren^ (xeese. It this be not sport enough for sportsmen, why then, turn poacher, most ungentle reader, and earn tl!e .naledietion of all who love a fair fleld and fair play for all thmgs, whether they be fish, flesh, or fowl Here is a brief description of our bird. Look to the wood-cutattheheadof this paper, and see if you dis- cern his " very form and body," if nothis "age and pre ■■ sure. length of bill, from the corner of the month to the end, two inches and three-sixteenths; len<.th of tars,, two inches seven-eighths; length from point'of bill toendoftail, about forty inches; wing, eighteen inches. Heauand greater portion of neck, black; cheeks and throat, white. Adult, with the head, greater part of neck, primaries, rump and tail, black; back and win-s 68 AMEEICAN GAME. bird on tl.e l.oard Milel Z , "" """'"'' " «'•""y. m THE MALLARD. Anas Jlosc/tas. THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. Ajias Americana. Borrr tl,eso beautiful ducks, j.erhaps, with tlio cxcep. tion of the lovely Summer Duek, or Wood Duck, Am.9 Sjmisa, the most beautiful of all the tribe, are alon.. the seaboard of the Northern States somewhat rare of oecurrenee, being for the most part fresh-water speeies, aud when driven by stress of weather, and the freezing over of the inland lakes and rivers whieh they frequent" repainng to the estuaries and land-loeked lagoons of the feoinhe™ eoasts and rivers, as well as to the tepid pools ami warm sources of Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia Alabama and Louisiana, in all of whieh states they swann during the summer months. On many cf the inland streams and pools of New ITork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Far West i„ general, mclnding all the bays, shallows and tributaries lakes of New lork, especially where the wUd-rice, or I? i 72 AMEKICAN GAME. wild oat, zizania aquatica, is plentiful, they are found in very great ininibers, especially in the spring and sum- mer time, nor are tJiey unfrequently killed on the snipe- grounds of Kew Jersey, around Chatham, Pine-brook, and the Parcippany meadows on the beautiful Passaic, and on the yet more extensive grounds on the Seneca ajid Cayuga outlets, in the vicinity of Montezuma Sallna, and the salt regions of JSTew York. In the shallows of the lake and riv^er St. Clair, above Detroit, on the Rivwre aux Canards, and the marshes of Chatham in Canada East, all along the shores of Lake Erie on the Canadian side, especially about Long Point, and in the Grand River, they literally swarm ; wliil^^ in all the rivers, and shallow rice-lakes on the northern sliores of Lake Huron, which are the breeding-places of tlieir countless tribes, they are found, from the breaking lip of the ice to the shutting up of the bays and coves in which they feed, in numbers absolutely numberless. The Mallard is generally believed to be the parent and progenitor of t\\Q domestic duck, which, although far superior in beauty of plumage and grace of form and deportment, it very closely resembles ; yet when or where it was domesticated, is a question entirely dark and never to be settled. It is certain that the domestic duck was unknown to the Greeks and Eomans, so late as to the Christian era, although the paintings in the Egyptian tombs demonstrate beyond a peradventure that it was familiar to that wonderful people from a very TIIE JLlXLAltD. 73 ; Chinese, who rear and enltivate tl>e>n to a verv "! extent. Indeed, it i., I tiuuk, i„ the l,io.I,e-t , P-bab,e that the due,, i„ ,; do jj^ « "f: juvportation into Europe fron. the Ea.t, J^ ,3 behere .„ every quarter of the globe, the Mallard is a con.,„o„ and indigenous native of the fresh .ate:! Eastein .S ates as the Green-l,oad, westward as the Gray Buck an , , ^,„,_ ,^^ ^,,^ ^^^^^^^ ^ fiom hu.ty-s,x to forty ounces, and measured twenty- three zne .s in length, by thirty-five in breadth. ' Tho b. 1 ,s of a yellowish-green color, not very fiat about an ,neh broad, and two and a half long fro.n the corners of the nrouth to the tip of the nail ; tht head and gioen, te „,nated .n the .uiddle of the neek by a white el a, wuh which it is nearly encircled ; the Jver I si :, r™"'' "'''^'"'•■'" '"^"""^ "- °f » '-«! of S ' ,0 T'' """"' ^^"^■^'^ «"-«'^ of brown. 8 coverts ash, qniUs brown, and between these ^ el. tr,be, wh.eh crosses the wing i„ , transverse st,ealv of sooty blade and pure wln'to. The bellv is of a I 74 AMERICAN GAME. pale gray, delicately crossed and pencilled wltL number- less narrow, waved, dusky lines, whicli on tlie sides and long feathers tliat cover tlie thighs are more strongly and distinctly marked. The uj^per and nnder tail coverts, lower part of the back and rump, are black, ihe latter glossed with green ; tlie four middle tail feathers are also black, with purple reflections, and, like those of the domestic duck, are stiffly curled upward. The rest • are sharp-pointed, and fade off to the exterior edges from brown to dull white. Iris of the eye briglit yellow, feet, legs and webs reddish orange, claws black. The female, and young male until after the first moult, are very different in plumage from the adult drake, par- taking none of its beauties, witli tlie exception of the spot on the wings. All the other parts are plain brown, marked with black, the centre of every feather being dark and feding to the edges. 8he makes her nest, layt her eggs— from ten to sixteen in number, of a greenish white— generally in the most sequestered mosses or bogs, far from the haunts of man, and hidden from his sight among reeds and rushes. To her young, helpless, un- fledged, family, and they are nearly three months before they can fly, she is a fond, attentive and watchful parent, carrying or leading them from one pool to another, as her fears or inclinations direct her, and she is known to nse the same Avily stratagems, in order to mislead the sportsman and his dog, as those resorted to by the ruffed THE MALLARD. 76 grouse, tlie quail and the woodcock, feigning lameness, and fluttering as if helplessly wounded, along the surfece of the water until she has lured the enemy afar from her skulking and terrified j)rogeny. The Mallard is rarely or never shot to decoys, or stooh as they are termed, since these are but little used except on the coast, where this duck is, as I have previously observed, of rare occurrence, although it is occasionally found in company with the Dusky Duck, anas obscura, better known to gunners as the Black Duck. It is stated, however, by Dr. Lewis, in his clever work entitled " Hints to Sportsmen," that, " like most of wild fowl, the Mallard breeds in the for north, and makes its appearance in the autumn, among the first of our ducks. It is common throughout all our rivers and fresh-water lakes, but is seldom met with on the sea-coast. As the winter progresses, large numbers continue south, and take up their abode among the rice-fields of tlie Carolinas, where tliey become very fat and particularly palatable ; their flesh at all times when the weather -is not severe is good, as they feed on vegetable matter in preference to any other kind of food, and only j^artakc of flesh when they cannot obtain anything else. "Mallards are easily brought within gunshot by means of decoys used in the way already described under tlie head of Canvass Backs. They are numerous at times on the Delaware, and numbers are killed by shooters hiding themselves in boats and in the reeds ! U;: I 76 AMKRIOAN GAME. Within range of tlieir stool clucks, wliich are set out on the edge of the reeds. They are fond of tlie seeds of the wild oats that flourish so profusely on the flats of tlie Delaware, and their flesh soon becomes delicate and juicy." Of this statement I doubt not the correctness, althou-h what I have written above is founded on my person^ observation, having shot wild fowl in the United States only on tlie Long Island and New Jersey shores, or the inland rivers of the Atlantic coasts, and on the great lakes, where decoy ducks cannot readily be procured. In England and on the continent of Europe Mallards are netted in great numbers in decoy ponds fabricated for that purpose, a full account of which, with plans, will be found in Beurich's British Eirds, vol. ii. ; but as this method is not adopted in the United States, it is needless further to allude to it. "Like the Dusky Duck," says Mr. Giraud, in his very clever and agreeable manual on the birds of Long L^land, " when pursued by the sportsman, it becomes shy, and feeds at night, dozing away the day out of gun-shot from the shore. "Early in the month of July, 1837, while huntino. over the meadows for smaller game, I came upon a pair of Mallard Ducks, moving slowly down the celebrated ' Brick-house creek.' The thouglit occurred to me that they were a pair of tame ducks that had become tired of the monotony of domestic life, and determined on THE MAIJiiiJRD. ir pushing their fortunes in the broad bay. As I advanced they took wing, which undeceived me, and I brought them down. Tliey proved to be an adult male and female. From this circumstance I was led to suppose that they had bred in the neighborliood. I made a dili- gent search, and offered a sufficient bounty to indnce others to search with me — but neither nest nor young could be found. Probably when migrating, they were shot at and so badly wounded as to be unable to perform their fatiguing journey, perhaps miles apart, and per- chance only found companions in each other a short time before I shot them." When the young birds are about three-fourths grown, and not as yet fully fledged or able to fly strongly, at which age they are termed Jlaj)jm'6\ they afl:brd excellent sport over water-spaniels, when they are abundant in large reed beds along the brink of ponds and rivers. When full grown, moreover, when they frecpient parts of the country where the streams are narrow and wind- ing, great sport can be had with them at times, by walking about twenty yards wide of the brink and as many in advance of an attendant, who should follow all the windings of the water and flush the birds, which sp]'inging wide of him will so be brought within easy range of the gu.?i. The Mallard J;. wonderfully quick-sighted and sharp of hearing, so that i^ is exceedingly difficult to stalk him from the shore, especially by a person coming down 1 , 78 AlIERICAN GAME. Wind upon him, so mueli so tliat the acutcness of his senses has given rise to a general idea that he can detect danger to windward by means of liis olfactory nerves. ■Ihis IS, however, disproved by the observations of tha^ excellent- sportsman and pleasant writer, John Colqu- houn of Luss, as recorded in that capital work, " The Moor and the Loch," who declares decidedly, that al- though ducks on the feed constantly detect an enemy crawling down upon them from the windward, will con- stantly, when he is lying in wait, silent and still, and properly concealed, sail down upon him perfectly unsus- pc.ous, even when a strong wind is blowing over him full m their nostrils. For duck shooting, whether it be practiced in this fashion, by stalking them from the shore while feediiH. m lakelets or rivers, by following the windings of open and rapid streams in severe weather, or in paddling or pushing on them in gunning-skifts, as is practiced on the Delaware, a peculiar gun is necessary for the perfection of the sport. To my taste, it should be a double-barrel from 33 to 36 inches in length, at the outside, about 10 guage, and ten pounds weight. The strength and weight of the metal should be principally at the breech, which will answer the double purpose of causing it to balance well and of counteracting the call. Such a gun will carry from two to three ounces of IS^. 4 shot, than which I would never use a larger size for duck, and with that load and an equal measure of very coarse powder^ I* THE MALL4ED. Id Hawker's fluckiiig-powder, maiiufacturecl by Ciirtict and Harvey, is tlie best in tlie world, and can be procured of Mr. Brough, in Fulton Street, New York — will do its work satisfactorily and cleanly at sixty yards, or with Eley's greeny, wire cartridges, wliicli will permit tlie use of shot one size smaller, at tliirty yards farther. The utility of these admirable projectiles can hardly be over- rated ; next to the copper-cap, of which Starkey's water- proof, central-fire, is the best form, I regard them as the greatest of modern inventions in tlie art of gunnery. Sucli a gun as I describe can be furnished of first-rato quality by Mr. John Krider of Philadelphia, Mr. John, or Patrick Mullin of E"ew Yoik, or Mr. Henry T. Cooper of the same city, ranging in price, according to finish, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars, of domestic mannlacture ; and I would strongly recommend > sportsmen, requiring such an implement, to apply to one of these excellent and conscientious makers, rather than even to import a London gun, much more than to pur- chase at a hazard the miserable and dangerous Birminir- ham trash, manufactured of three-penny skelp or shani- damn-iron, got up in handsome velvet-lined mahogany cases, and tricked out with varnish and gimcrackery ex- pressly for the American market, such as are offered for sale at every hardware shop in the country. The selling of such goods ought to be made by law a high misdemeanor, and a fatal accident occuiTing by fl mi % ' : 80 AJIEKICAN GAME. rt.ou- explosfon AonU entail on the liead of ttc Tender the penalty of wilful murder. The Mallard is found frequently associating in lar^o ph,rnps ..... the Pintail, or S,„VtaiI, anot,,;. ele,.: h sl> .vater vanety, the Dusky-Dnck on fresh watorsfthe (. een,vn,,od Teal in winter to the sontlnvard, and ;vith tlio H Klgeon on tjie western waters O.Uhe big and little pieces-two large moist savannas on the Passa,c nvcr in Kew Jersey, tbnnerly famous for then- sn,pe and cock grounds, hut now rnLd by the It r; "Tp-™" °^''°"'""*---^ -"-l poachers-Aave ot Ma lard, P.ntail, and Black Duck, over dead points from setters, out of brakes, in which they were probably preparing to breed, during early snipLhootin. ; b t nowhere have I ever beheld them in such myriad; as in the snudi „ce-lakes on the Severn, the Wye, and the cold water rivers debouching into the nortl.ern part of Lake Huron, known as the Great Georgian Bay, and on the reed-flats and shallows of Lake St. Clair, in the v.cm,ty of Alganae, and the „,ouths of the Than.es and CiiGvail Eearto rivers. I am satisfied that by using well-made decovs, or stools, and two canoes, one concealed among tl,; rice and reeds, and the other paddling to and fro, to put up the teams of wild fowl and keep then, constantly on the inove, such sport might be had as ca,. be obtained in no other section of this country, pe.-haps of the world; and that the pleas..re would well repay the sportsman for a 4 4 THE AMERICAN WIDGEON. 81 ler trip far more difficult and tedious than the facilities af- forded by the Erie Eailroad and the noble steamers on the lakes now render a visit to tliose glorious sportino-. grounds. ^ TuE American Widgeon, the bird which is represented as lulling headforemost with collapsed wings, shot per- fectly dead without a struggle, in the accompanying woodcut, while the Mallard goes off safely, quacking at the top of his voice in strange terror, though nearly allied to tlie European species, is yet perfectly distinct, and peculiar to this continent. It is thus accurately described by Mr. Giraud, although hut an unfrequent visitor of the Long Island bays and shores : "Bill short, the color light grayish blue; speculum green, banded with black. Under wing coverts white Adult male with the coral space, sides of the head, under the eye, upper part of the neck and throat brownish white, spotted with black. A broad band of white com mencing at the base of the upper mandible, passinl- over the crown." It is this mark which has procured the bird Its general provincial appellation of " Baldpate " " Be liind the eye a broad band of bright green, extending backward on the hind neck about three inches ; the feathers on the nape rather long; lower neck and sides of the breast, with a portion of the upper part of the breast reddish brown. Eest of the lower parts white excepting a patch of black at the base of the tail. Under 4* r C! |:'i E J ir M 82 AMEKICAN GAME. tail covert tlio same color ri.u,l'« 7.,. ^ 1 1 '-'^uu. xiaiiks brown, barrpri x.-ifT, aiisky ; lower njirf rvf ^1 i* i ♦^"i "unea with J' , lowei pait of the liinU neck and fore iim-f ,.+• .i ■ coverts ,vl,ite; tipped ,,.;;' f 7'^'' ^"'"' J ««conda.y ' 'TP^i' \vitii black; sDeculnm k,.;ii- ^ r™' ^"™«' "y «.o middle s eond t T ^we"t,-„„e inehe, wi., ten and a i,a, ; II ^ P>"-na,o du„e, witW the green ma,,^:^ ^■"*"' ««dBoothia;r td t r "" ''"'*"•' »^^*»Jor, tlie brief hnt ! "' '"™*"'^-^' ^^''«-<^ '' ^Pends TIIE AMERICAN WIDOEON. 83 of the Delaware, in company with Bhie-w^inged Teal ; and in winter it congregates in vast flocks, together witli kScaups, better known as Bluebills, or Broadl)ills, Ked- heads, and Canvashacks, to whicli last it is a sonrce of constant annoyance, since being a far loss expert diver than the '^anvasback, it watches that bird until it rises with the highly-prized root, and flies ofl' with the stolen booty in triumph The Widgeon, like the Canvasback, can at times bo toled, as it is termed, or lured within gunshot of sports- men, concealed behind artiflcial screens of reeds, built along the shore, or behind natural coverings, such as brakes of crij^ple or reed-beds, by the gambols of dogs taught to play and sport backward and forward along the shore, tor the purpose of attracting the curious and fascinated wild fowl within easy shooting distance. And strange to say, so powerful is the attraction that the same flock of ducks has been known to be decoyed into gunshot thrice within the space of a single hour, above forty birds being killed at the three discharges. Scaups, or Blackheads, as they are called on the Cliesapeake, tole, it is said, more readily than any other species, and next to these the Canvasbacks and Redheads ; tlie Bald- pates being the most cautious and w^ary of them all, and rarely suffering themselves to be decoyed, except when in company with the Canvasbacks, along with whicli they swim shoreward carelessly, though without appear- ing to notice the dog. IMAGE EVALUATBON TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 i.l 6^118 |2.5 ■^ 1^ |2.2 1.8 m 1.25 llll'-'^ llll>-6 ^ 6" ► Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRCET WEBSTER, N.Y. ' ^580 (716) 872-4503 T' : 84 -^i^RICAN GAME. It Las been supposed that Ducts in general and fl o^'>.^n.„,/eJ::i^:";;::-- ^vho >s usually so correct, tluat to point on ""' ;%.>tni,H"sa,sC;jr;r;:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Jo- yon, as t],e ducks .ay s,„en yo , t r; • "" always necessary to get to locvard of w Id f„t 'o W astU.r power of seentingis very grel?^' not r J; s::;::::rsi?;r^- «'=---- ^^.Iis.ga.eLpers,;::;i^^^^^^^^^^^^^ men alike. Such mpn „i • *= "'"^^^^ ^^^ bay- observers of faetlfd j ^ Teir'^ '=''^^'"'" advice, not to attemnt \ , ' *™'' °"- ^*ose ^owi ^edi„g;do::i,reit:t r "'''- -' ^"^ I'abit, xnstinct, migration, or morement I ^ estabHshed as a fact, the ,'east 7Z tm,?] ^f That this alleged fact, of wild fow haTnl tl e' ' of scenting an enemv i« o ^ ^ P^^^^* THE AMEEICAN WnJOEON. SK . writer Colqulioun, and my own observation fully con- firms his assertion. Wild fowl will not allow yon, it is tnie, to creep on ' them over land, or paddle npon them oyer water, down the wind ; but that is because the bree.e bears down the sound of yonr approach to their keen ears, not the tamt of your presence to their nostrils. If you are con- cealed up wind of them, and preserve silence, they fly or swnn up to yonr ambush, perfectly feariess, and nnscared by your presence, whicli-had they any real power of scenting at a distance-their sense of smell would equally reveal to them, whether you were station- ary, or in motion. These birds, with their congeners, are also shot from pomts, as at Carrol's Island, Abbey Island, Maxwell's Pomt, Legoe's Point, and other places in the same vicmxty abont the Bush and Gunpowder rivers, while flymg over high in air; and so great is the velocity of their il,ght when going before the wind, and such the allowance that must be made in shooting ahead of them, that the very best of upland marksmen are said to make 7' ^2 rf "' "' ""'" *'"y '""'''^' '•--tomed to he flight ot the wild fowl. They are also shot occasion- ally m vast numbers at holes in the ice which remain open when the rest of t!,e waters are fro.en over; and ye agam by means of swivel g„„s, carrying a pound of shot or over, discharged from the bows of a boat stealthily paddled into the flocks at dead of nS 86 AME15ICAN GAME. when sleej.„g ,„ ,, ,„„„„^ „„ ^,^^ ^^^,^^^^ ^^ watei. Tins method as, however, znneh reprobated by sportsmen and that very justly, as tending beyond any other method to cause the fowl to desert tlj feec^!; beautiful Inrds to our sporting readers, both as obieets iSTtr '™"'' ""' ''''^"''^ "^«'-^'-'« ^-" A vis.t at this season to Seneca Late, the Montezuma Meadows, or that region, could not flu "to yield Z ce of the •bated hy yond any r feedijiij •th these 8 objects te feeds, nteziima eld rare APRIL. Scolopax WilsonU. THE ENGL18II SKIPE. BRITISH PROVnN-CES, UNITED STATES, ARCTIC REGIONS TO MEXICO. LaVraoi Lineatus. THE ROCK FISH. BAY OF PUKOy TO THE CAPES OK THE CHESAPEAKE I If ili: ■ft ,1 !!; I !i ?< 50 u a ■^ 'Z. u u ill ^ a, at u < u a: THE AMERICAN SNIPE. Scolqpax Wilso7iii. THE ENGLISH SNIPE. It is a singular thing, and one wliicli elucidates the great research necessary, and the extreme dithculties en- countered, in the attempt to establisli iiicts of natural history with regard to birds of passage, that this beauti- ful little bird, the general favorite of the sportsman and the epicure, well known to all classes of men, and a vis- itant, in some one of its closely allied varieties, of every known nation, is still a mystery, as regards some of its habits, and continues to baffle the inquiries of the most learned and inquisitive ornithologists. Its habits, the nature of its food, and therefore the ne- cessities of its existence, render it an inhabitant of tem- perate climates, and of regions in which the moist and loamy soil, from which it derives its sustenance of small worms, insects, and the like, is not frozen durmg the pe- riod of its visitations so hard as to preclude its boring with its delicate and sensitive bill for its semi-aqiiatJc ' prey of worms and larvae. 90 AMKKICAN GAME. Still, as extreme cold pre von f^ ,-f ^ genial to itstastes or te„n,e,.'r. , "'"=""■ ">"I tho soft stroa,„ ,„a,.gi,„ ,„, ' , "'\*'"^ """'■^''^-^ flios from its winter o„„,fr '"'"'^"'« '''"' '' -"d Georgia; 7^1 " " ""•''-■'* '"' <^''"-'"-«. Mexico, tl in H '""'• ■™"'^»«^ "'^ ^'-•- -hI New return o t L fr , , °'"""^' ^'"••■"^' «"""-'^ "^ ■>« nortl..east. "'°™ "'"■ i"'™ """ctB of the bine-bird be.^iijs to „;,.„•?, ' ' '" '"'"' •••« «'« wear in the°r e s 7 "n ""'""'"<'■ ""= «''-' '« t'.efro,sto:r:r::t*r::r7^""^-"^ tl'e .nipe is seen every wl.eC """'~"'' P-g.-oss of ti>e season li I !' ":/":"="' ^^''<"-<''''^' '» «- 1-d, in C: ::; iriz: r t"^- ^" ^^--- Je'-sey, he is wont t„ Pennsylvania and Kcw M.i ^^X^T^TT '" " '"^ ^''"' "^ the 15th of March to tlilfr""; ""■"'""■"' '™'» longer or shorter perioul "'"' """"""=" ^"- «- weather, the st T t e Z" ^'^ ''T''' °' 1 Tir]<: AMERICAN SNIPE. 91 in such seasons, more or less, ho woos liis mate, i.iditi- catcH and rears liis yoiin^>- among us, from the Raritaii and the rassaic nortliward and eastward to tlio Great Lakes, and througliout Michigan, Wisconsin, probably, and Canada West, up far into the Arctic Circles. Still, those which breed with us in the United States, and even in the Canadas, are but as drops of water to an ocean, to those which rush on the untiring pinions moved by amatory instinct to the tar breeding grounds of Lab- rador, Symsonia, and Eoothia Felix, whither it is*..^;-. :po8ecl they resort to rear their youn^ in liyperborean soli- tude, thence to reissue, in the summer and tlie earlier autumn, and re-populate our midland meadows. In the neighborhood of Ainherstberg, Canada West, they appear very early; often in February of mild sea- sons, always in March ; and there may breed, and remain until banished by severe cold. I shot one there myself last autumn, the last bird of the season, very late in ^^o- veniber, I believe on the 28th or 29th ; and with the plovei-, the Iludsonian godwit, and the Esquimaux curlew, they were seen there this spring in the first davs of March. . ^ Around Quebec, I have shot English snipe on the up- lands, in follow fields and rushy pastures-for the grass m the morasses does not begin to shoot in tliose far north- ern latitudes, so as to afford them shelter, until much later in the year-in the end of April and the beginning of May; but they arrive there only by small scattered [. 93 ^^lERlCAN GAME. «-l^i«i.«, or single birds, tarry a few shorf .1 'o .'.'i.piy the ,.odi; :si: .T'"^'"-''-«' -■ '"■^- America, an., A.^nu' ™"""™'" ^""'"'' >vitho„t u.ulcrgoin.. ,iel. ^ "''''. '.™^"" »«<"• «««».>, numbers. ""^ ''"'"« diminution^of Ever, in all places in oil -'-■'. ti.e, visi! in ; ; ~ "' "" -«-ts, -" still, fro. Mari u^i X .Z T"' '""*• Bay hero ends their tide „f „ ' ' ''""fe' "'^"« «» ^esting-plaeo. °"'''"™' ""^ '« «'«"- d-sen ''-^..ot,„„:,,4;,:,:;2;;;;vMeb.^ "S '«.-.o as the Pm-ents-thesebrdsl,t ■'''"' on the ground .-hereon I Jlld ,1 r'^'""' '""«'-'' op-ion, that an birds ,W i "^ ''"'' " '^ '"^ youd the 10th of May e « V 7 '" """ '"''^"""^ '- ^1 ^yxny, either c/c brppf] wrfi> "0 so b„t for the persecution of t^ '■"""'"""'" ^vln•eh intend to steer farther nrtM J'«'-''""te.-all that time. "'^ ^'"^^^ ^'eparted ere About the t.th of .„!,«,, returning hordes, ,„„„, I! TUE AMERICAN SNIPE. 9a birds and old together, full grown and In flno condition, begin to reappear in the marshes of Quebec and itn vicin- ity, which may bo waid to bo tiio extrcmest Jiorthern point from which wo have contlnnous and authentic annual information of their appearance. At that time tho slaughter of the snipe on the marshes of Chatean Itichor, and of the islands farther down the St. Lawrence, is pro- digious. There they linger nntil the frosts become so severe as to drive them from their fecding-gronnds, which generally takes place early in September, from which time, throughout that month, all October, and a portion— more or less according to the season— of Ko- vcmber, and even December, every likely swamp, mo- rass, and feeding-ground of Canada West, of the western, midland, and eastern states, from which they are not persecuted and banished by the incessant bauirino- of pot-hunters and idle village boys, swarms with them, in quantities sufficient to afford sport to hundreds, and a delicacy to thousands of our inhabitants, if they were protected from useless and unmeaning persecution, by which alone they are prevented from being as numerous among us as at any former period. For I am well assured, that— unlike the woodcock, which, breeding in our midst, and dwelling with us for months at a time, is annually slaughtered while breeding, hatching, or immature, and is thus in rapid progress towards extirpation— the snipe, when unmolested in its breeding-grounds, is not diminished in its numerical pro- ^ •<*• \ , h 94 AMEBICAI^ GAME. d, vi i f '■'" ''"°^' "^'""-^-t I'amssing, which I do not ,nean by this, however, to assert that the abo- Jrtion of spring snipe-shooting would not I.„ „ , tao-e—nt. ti,„ i » wouici not be an advan- ,f on tue contrary, I am convinced th- 1 it w. i 7 rilv U,r. f legislators ; for, as the snipe ordina- 'Ijlays tour eggs, the destruction of each one of '"■eeders on their way northward of J i ■ the stock <.f ti . """"*'«' 01 course diminishes the etocJc of the commg season by five l>irds. ieTnown ;:-"'r"'"" "• ^''--'«-«os-so welf I lie J.nown— It is almost useless to spcik - i> ,.,n i tile K\GLisH Snipe, our bird i« n +i. . i . -^^^ea -, differing from the bird f ^ ^tT ^T^'^ one inch smaller every way a,! • V ^^ "^""* ^-.ors, si.teen instead 7;:;;L; nrrri tl.ro„gh the air in 1 ' ? ""' "^^"'""oaring tj^ij iiiL ail m gloomy weatlipr • in +i • 4 # THE AMERICAN SNIPE. 9d tiled dis- ^g, which s. the abo- n ad^an- t would ; )e lioped ! ordina- e of the ainishes migra- well is ', how- termed 4.?}ieri- about ) more I. In barac- I An- t and afinir indic- with irinff oselj con- founded than distinguished by the unscientific sportS" man. The American bird has, hov^over, two or three habits, during early spring-shooting, which I have never ob- served in the European species, nor seen noticed in any work of natural history ; the first of these is frequenting underwood and basL-y covert abounding in springs and intersected by cattle-tracks, and occasionally even high woods, during wild, stormy, and dark weather, especially when snow-squalls are driving ; and this is a habit of the bird meriting the attention of the sj^ortsman, as in such weather, when he finds no birds on the open and unshel- tered marrJies, he will do well to beat the neiffhborino; underwoods, if any, and if not, the nearest swampy vroodlands ; by doing which he will oftentimes fill his bag when he despairs of any sport. The second habit is that of alighting, not unfrequently, on rail-fences, or stumps, and even on high trees, which I think I can safely assert that the European bird 7iever does ; and the third is the utterance, when in the act of skimming over the meadows, after soaring, bleating, and drumming for an liour at a stretch in mid air, of " a sharD reiterated chatter, consisting of a quick, jarring repetition of the syllables, Tceh-liek-Tcek-lce'k-'ke'k, many times in succession, with a rising and falling inflection, like that of a hen which has just laid an Gg^y * There is no Jack Snipe in America, though many per- * " Frank Forrester's Field Sports of North America," vol. i. p. 161. ! Ni I m AMEBICAjf GA]VIE. ^ons ignorantly and obstinately assort the reverse • the true Xack S„ip„ ,ei„g a northe™ bird of Eu o e' 1 ^ eatiiei. It ,s an exact counterpart of the English S),i„e 0 lyabou one-half s.naner.; it never utters any c"'!' n«.ng and rarely ilies above one hnndred vard, often a-pp„,g ,vithi„ fifty feet of the mu.,e otC ^'ntst discharged at it, although unwouuded. n,e bird" h' c :! \'": '=""^-'"^^'' ™a it, is the Pkcxo^., S^™ : b.d about one-third smaller than the snipe, of a Ihter nndt 1, "f ■"'''^"""--tely on the sea-shore! aruUn upland ,„arshes ; I have shot it fron, Lake Huron to h Penobscot, and the Capes of the Delaware ; it lies 1 tne table It ,s tnown ,n Long Island as the "Mea- dow bnape," and the " Short .>.eek" in Kew Jersey and hence westward, as the "Eat Bird," or "Jack Sn pe ' ;tT'''''t '*'^'-'-"H-'a„,butaZd. piper, Tri9i(/a Pectoralis. censis, Detter known as tlio "DoAviTrrrrn » o., "ame, adopted and persevered " W " ^ B. ~""' tI.o " Quail Snipe." At F.. Il" 7 ^^ "'"' '''' "' XI . r^ »<^-^^'^^^oi' the fi-unners Pnl] Tf the "J3rown-])'ipl'" Tf ^ > , to"^i"ers call it i^i back. It IS found only on the salt marshes and IS never hunted with docg hnf «l f ^ ^"'"^^^cs» over decoys ^ ' '^'"^ ^^'^"^ ^^^^^^«^ ■ THE AMERICAN SNIPE. 97 Ic appears, then, that the coming and stay of the com- mon snipe in our districts, in spring, is very uncertain and dependent on the state and steadiness of the weather. Some seasons, the/ will stay for weeks on the moist, muddy flats among the young and succulent herbage, growing fat and lazy, lying well to the dog, and afford- ing great sport. Sometimes they will merely alight, feed, rest, and resume their flight, never giving the sportsman a chance even of knowing that they have been, and are gone, except by their chalkings and borings where they have fed. Again, at other seasons, they will lie singly, or in scattered whisps on the uplands, in fallow fields, even among stunted brushwood, lurking 2>erchi all day, and resorting to the marshes by night, leaving the traces of their presence in multitudes, to perplex the sportsman, who, perhaps, beats the ground for them, day after day, only to find that they were, but are not. This variance in the habit of the snipe it is, which makes him so hard a bird to kill ; for, although he is per- plexing from his rapid and twisting flight to a novice, I consider him, to a cool old hand, as easy a bird to kill as any that flies. The snipe invariably rises against or across wind, and in doing so hangs for an instant on the air before he can gather his way ; that instant is the time in which to shoot him, and that trick of rising a,.-ainst wind is his bane with the accomplished shot and sports- man, for J3y beating down the wind, keeping his brace of dogs quartering the ground before him, across the wind, i) 98 AMERICAN GAME. so that they will still have the air in their „oseM.e com- pels the bird to rise before him, and cross to the right on the left hand, aflbrding him a clear and close shot, instead of wlnsthng straight away np wind, dead ahead of him ex-i^smg the smallest surface to his aim, and ireqnently' gottmg off without a shot, as it will constantly do, if the Bhooter beats .^^^m, even with the best and steadiest dogs m the world. The Jcnuck of shooting snipe, as some people who can't do it choose to call it, is „« other than the knack of shooting quick, shooting straight, and shoot- "^ ^f "'"."' "' "■"'' ^''^t^-*!^- "one with a gun that -11 throw Its charge close at forty to fifty yards, with IJ 02 of J,o. 8 shot, equal measures of shot and of i^roughs diamond-grain powder, will fetch three snipe out of every live, which is g,-eat work, in spite of what the cockneys say, who pick their shots, never firing at a hard bard, or one over twenty paces away, and then boast of Inlhng twenty shots in succession. Va-lum sap The great difference of the grounds to be beaten in dif^ ferent weathers; the difficulty in determining which ground to assign to which day ; the immense extent of country to be traversed, if birds are scarce or wild, or if there are many varieties of soil, covert, and feedin.. in one range, and the sportsman fail in his two or three fn-st b asmiind.nggame,and therefore have to persevere till he do find them, these, and the hardness of the walk- ing in rotten quagmires and deep morasses, affording no sure foot-hold, and often knee-deep in water, these tt is I )ses, he com- the riglit on 5liot, instccad e.icl of liim, I frequently y do, if the id steadiest pe, as some other tlian and shoot- a gnn that ^ards, with ot and of iree snipe :e of wliat iving at a "hen boast '' sap. ten in dit- g which extent of ild, or if eding in hree first )ersevere he walk- fding no esc it ia THE AMERICAN SNIPE. 99 which make successful snipe-shooting one of the greatest feats in the art, and the crack snipe-linder and snipe- killer — for the two are one, or rather the second depends mainly on the first — one of the first, if not the first artist in the line. It is from this necessity of beating, oftentimes, very extensive tracts of land before finding birds, and there- fore beating very rapidly if you would find birds betimes, that I so greatly prefer and recommend the use of very fast, very higldy-bred, and very far-ranging setters, to that of any pointer in the world, for snipe-shooting in the open — a])art from their great sujieriority over the pointer in hardihood, endurance of cold, powers of retrieving, beauty and good-nature. Of course, speaking of dogs, whether setter, pointer, droj^per, or cockiug-spaniel, it is nnderstood that we speak of dogs of eqnal cpialities of nose, staunchness to the point, and 'steadiness at coming to the charge the instant a shot is fired. No dog which does not do all these things habitually, and of course, is worth the rope that should hang him ; and no man is Avorthy the name of a shot or a sportsman, who cannot, and does not, keep his dogs, whether setters, pointers, or cockers, un- der such command that he can turn them to the right or left, bring them to lieel, stop them, ordov,m charge them, at two hundred yj '"'^^ distance if it be needful. If these things, then, be equal, as they can be made equal, though I admit a setter to be mr,ve difticultlykept I n h: I 100 AMEKICAN GAME. in discipline than a pointei—tlie fastest setter you can get, is tlie best clog for snipe-sliooting ; his superiority, in other points, infinitely counterbalancing the greater trouble it requires to break and control him. I am well aware that it has been said, and that by authorities, that the best dog over which to shoot snipe, is an old, slow, broken-down, staunch pointer, who crawls along at a foot's pace, and never misses, overruns, or flushes a bird. ^ And so, in two cases, l^e is ; but in one case, no dog is just as good as he is, and in the other the argument is one of incapacity to use what is best, and therefore is no argument. If birds are so thick on the grounds, and so tame that you can till your bag in walking over one or two acres at a foot's pace, a very slow pointer is better than ilist set- ters-but no dog at all, your walking up the birds your- self, which you can do just as cpiickly as the dog can, is better than the slow pointer. Indeed, on veiy small grounds, very thickly stocked, it is by fav tlie most kill- mg way to use no dog, but to walk up the birds. If a man is so weak and infirm of purpose, or so igno- rant of the first principles of his art, as to be unabre to •control his setters, he must, I suppose, use a slow pointer • but it cannot matter what dog such a man uses, he never can be a sportsman. If there be a hundred birds lying, and lying well on one acre of feeding-ground, the birds can be killed with- ^^L THE AMERICAN SNIPE. 101 t' • lie out a dog, or with a slow dog-, as you will ; any man wlio can i)ull a trigger must fill liis bag. If there be a hundred birds scattered, wild, over five hundred acres of ground, where are you with your slow dog, or your no dog ? Just no where. While you are painfully picking up your three or four birds with your slow pointer, your true sportsman, and slashing walker, with his racing up-head and down-stern setters, will have found fifty, and bagged twenty-five or thirty. There are ten days in a season when birds are wild and sparse^ for one when they are congregated and lie hard ; and the argument comes to this, that when birds can be killed with ease, even without a dog at all, a slow pointer is the best ; when they are difficult to find, and hard to kill, even by a crack shot, the slow pointer is no where, and of no use, Avliile the racing setters will fill the bag to a certainty. For my own part, I can say to a certainty, that I have had more sport, and killed more birds, by many, many times, when birds have been widely scattered, and diffi- cult to find, and when I ha^'e walked half or a quarter of a mile between every shot fired, than I ever have when birds have lain close, and jumped up at every pace under my feet ; and for a simple reason, that the places in which birds so rise and lie, are rare and of small extent, and the days on which they do so few and far apart. Therefore I say, friend— ior all true sportsmen I hold friends— choose well thy day, when the air is soft and i ': i i I'f 1 102 AMEIilCAN GAME. 11 gon,a , tlio ,vin.l sonth-wcstcHj, ,].e meadows ,.reen witl. mtaW. but If ,i,o wind bo from the eastward, cold «1 oie cattle j.oach ,ho soil, and the mar.h water, cree,, or the verge of the meadow., n.uler the lea of the m.I swa,„p, or at the worst the very grounds where , ! M beat ior woodcock in July-be„;„f <• ii , "'-^^""onitueiarthestwnul- om tl V w ', '' """"^' "'^ '"■'"=« "^ -*- oft- oua t y heel, to the right and left, rud so often as they - diverged one hundred yards, turning them withT wh tie and a wave of the hand, so that they shall cross eon mually before thy face, down wind of tlL, at s Z fl".-ty paces distant; -d so persevere-if birds lo pie y m^^ Ue well, walhing not to exceed two miles the V: ; f they be rare and wild, four miles, or by 'r lady ! five i ' t on mayest eon.pass it. If one dog stand, while t e ot,.er s back is turned, ,vhistle, that he shall tu n his 1 e^^ t -n hold thy hand aloft, with one ,uiet " toAo /" ,u ' ^J..mg;ifhebebroke,heshalUtan^ 2- 1 .en walk up to the point leisurely, be sure that thou go <"««.»«.g, the upper n,andible the longest, terminating in a lughly sens.tn-e nob, brown, tipped with black The erownofthe head black, bisectedlengthwise and b J THE AMEUIOAjN «x\II>E. 106 deved by three yellowisli-wliito streaks. Above tbe eye a dusky-brown lino; neck and nppor breast, pale dusky brown, speckled with bhick and wliite ; cliin dirty wliile. Back bhick, bordered with two white lines. Scapulars velvety black, richly marbled with ferruginous, and broadly edged exteriorly with white. Wings dusky, all the feathers tipped with white, (piills brown, exterior quills edged with white. Upper tail coverts, ferruginous, tipped with wliitish and spotted with black. Tail black,' ended with a chestnut bar, tipped with white. Belly pure white ; flanks white with dusky bars. Thighs, vent, and under-tail coverts white. Legs and feet pale green. It is worthy of remark that the American Snipe, though neither webbed nor semipalmated, swims freely' a fact which is, I believe, mentioned by no naturalist. ' On the first occasion wdiicli made me acquainted with this fact, I was standing on the verge of a narrow brook of some six or eight feet over, in the act of loadino- both barrels of my gun, which I had just discharged,^vhen a snipe flushed by another of my party, flew over my head, and pitched on an open spot of muddy soil, within six feet of me, evidently not observing me, as I stood motionless. I watched its actions and movements, for a few seconds, as it pruned its ruflied feathers, walked daintily about, picked up a worm or two, and Anally, to my great surprise, took to the water, swam cleverly across the brook and ensconced itself in a tuft of rushes whence I shortly afterward dislodged and shot it ' 6* 100 AMEI ICAN CAME Oil tlio second oochbIou, I was shoofin^r on tlio Chat- 'oM's, in eoni|,aii.y with m. KlchoU^, lute of hum mead II. M. 8i>d Roo't. Tho^bird and tl s M ere wild, the day windy. w ground too wet for In'rdB to lie well. At 1 marked three down top-etl ast wo •^•etiier jn a small meadow, b dered by a very broad fen ditch of eigl or- - -fn'iteen or twenty foot, a>„l half tl.at "*- used to be the first i„ tl ' ' "'" *"'« ««' "'. ^'^-e are a «ood ^l "i" ^ ^"7>" ^^-ooti..,. Jia^ got plenty of ecL t " "'' ^ ^''"'^ ^^^'' ^"^ '' B"eh a wiL, as t,l;. "'' '''"'' ^'^^ -" -ok eovert i„ ;;^ct"Btrj-it,the„,ifyo„,ayso." -Lt is most infcrml ix-oii • »' «fe. «„ here ;: -s^^"? .J"' V""' '"^ '" ^'^ -ord, he strode ac^s the f ' "" ■•'^"™ *« «'« • was „id,eg deep n f "' ""' '' "" ^^''^^ ^^^P ---• A fe. zi: ;::r;^r-f -^--'^^e -an hog, brought the™ to dril ; ":™''^'V="'^ '"*«■ ^>-l.ich was, ;„ truth even I '' '*^ ""' ^«'""'«- ground, - the soil was heeso ''"*'• ^""-"S "-n before "'■- the h.. 1 ; r"""."^ *'"•■' " -- ditKeult to deep. I„ ,;: ' ;, . '" '""■'^' '"*» -J-h it sunk ant.e -I Prices, tins was covered hv l.; i >"g wide apart, with sph.sj.es o sllf '' '" ''' ''""- tl>e surface, a„d here I "' '™*°'' ''o™'™^ J glass, wliicJi liad probabljr been SNIPE-SHOOTING. 113 burnt over, some two years before, grew tliiek and mat- ted on tlie loose rotten soil, through which, every few yards asunder, soaked little rills of nearly stao>nant water, indicated more by the blackness and ooziness of their muddy channels, than by any visible stream or cuiTent. Tlie setters looked at one anotlier wistfiilly, and tlieu at their master, as if they ivondered what the dencethey were expected to do in such gTound as timt, and when at length in obedience to his "IkM np, good lads !" and the warture of his hand to the right and left, tliey broke olf, and began to quarter their ground steadily and beantdully, crossing each other in regular diagonal Imes ; they did not beat at their usual dashing .allor .eads up and sterns down, as they would have don;,' had they been beating for quail, but felt their way, as it were,'gingerly and fearfully, keeping at a trot, though they whipped their iia.d" '» 0- sconced liten I.n.e^lS r,'"' ^^'"'' «— '- forty riein- one l,v „ , *' '°'"'' thirty or ^0.: .0.: Ttil^ : t;- «;--^^^ -lont 01 the Baltimorean, and SNIPE-SHOOTING. 115 going away, seai^e, sccipe, seaJjpe, scaipe, as who sl.oukl saj, "douce take the hindmost," to the nortii-westward ever as they flew and squeaked, ealling up fresli legions over the wide flat, until there must M^^ been above a hundred snipe in the air at once. At these, Cliarley did his work well, keeling a brace over, very neatly, one of Avhicli fell witliin a yavd of Bob's nose, wlio had gone down to charge witliout beinc bidden, the moment the report of the flrst shot tbllowed the flash. The steady dog snuffed a little, and wao-^ed liis tail, but did not stir, though to increase the tempfca- tion, the snipe, which was only wing-tipped, after turn- ing some twenty consecutive somersaults under his nose made several ineffectual off-ortsto rise, springing four or five feet into the air, and screaming " scmj>e- a <^u mieux. ' Wonderfully steady, indeed !" said Charley, in pro- found admiration-wonderfully steady. But that was a slashing shot of yours, that flrst one, Harry." " Yes ! it was some, as Bill Porter would say I wanted to kill that chap for the dog's sake, and would not have missed him for a trifle. I had no idea there were such a lot of them lying all around us. I never saw so many birds on the ground in my life; if it were a still, warm day, we should have rare sport. As it is we will make out a bag. AH this has turned out capi- tally. I would not bo surprised, if you will give mefive minutes to work the dogs after my own fashion, to see them stand the next bird, after we have retrieved these " 116 AMERICAN GAME. "Take your own ti.ne-I am ready. At all events, I -n say now that I never saw bott.-b..oke, or steadier '' Kow then, hold \m, o-ood Lids " nruwi u 1. T - 1 5 ts^uu iciub, CI 10(1 ilarry, wa vino* s .and to t,.e do,.s with a low wlu.tle, and w'alldn™ p to thorn, he eneouragod then,, and cheered them a.he -ade the,n ,ind eaeh one of the fonv dead hi. 1, .L ^v en 0,.,,,, , ,.,,„ _^ ,^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ■ , .^ Kl hen, a a short distance hetbre their noses, and ry- "'g toho ! anado them stand and haek, severa ti„,es an suecessaon. Atter this, he poeketed the hirds, ap^^i ! -. to Jaas traend, as ho caane a.p, for haviaag 1^ ^,„ co,"tnr;T' '"' ™ T°''' ''""•^'" ^^"' '-' "- «- cont..ay,I am mnch obiiged, for, like the dogs I too Imve heoaa taking any lesson." ^ ' "^l^ell, forwaa-d, hold „p lads!" and away they went agaan, the dogs gathea-ing eonrage as they d, J,Taa beatang more holdly and eaa-ayiaag aaaore head, as t y -"god forward, but still working aaaneh shn-ea, Z HO. w-a,.a,y than they woaald have doaaeoaa,,. ail. ' a vh, e they lonaad aaothing, f„r all the bi,.,. had seat- teaed far and aaeaa-, at the tirst distau-bance of the fcedin. g-nnd. Aftera,.hile,howevea., at the edge of son,: a 1 ags an g„ a spa.ingy feeding gronaad, ..d., who w a lattle to the raght, ,n troaat of Claarley, d.'opped from 1^. canter into a slow trot, straightened his neek'ld ri ill events, I or steadier ny, waving walking np lem, aa he birds, and Eis mucli as ter that, he s, and ciy- al times in , apologiz- kept hina "on the bgs, I too hey went I'ow, and , as they vver, and ;ul. For lad scat- ' feediiinf of some \vho ^vas ed from eck and SNIPE-SIIOOTINO. iir Btern, and drew on in a straight line. "look out, thei 18 a bird there !" e & uijje / scaijye ! close nnder the d and as he started, but not till then, Bob stood bird fell to Charley's shot and on they went, og's nose he started, stiff. The ;,- was recovered, bao-o-ed Five &&^^*) Kj rejoicing, missed. T1.0 next rise was to Archer. Two sn«p shots, r,Vl,t ami left, birds which rose wide of the dogs. The iirst, foil cean JdUed-the second, just grazed by the shot skated oft, and pitched three hnndred yards off The dead bird. Dinks pointed dead, i„ ti„e style, Bob back- >ng Inm. And twenty minutes after, the order was re- versed, Hob finding the hurt bird, beautifully, „„<, Dinks bacbng cghty yards off. That bird took another shot but he came to bag. After that, all day long, the ^reon cl.gs worked like old i,ands, on their new gaTne ; , ef^- afternoon, they were racing heads np and sterns down, >n be,r ok, fashion, and yet neither of them f.nshed ano«,er ,r u that day. Despite wind and weather, the f^^,e„ds hlled a heavy bag, and as they sipped thei peach brandy, by the fireside in the e.eLng Chari:; Ml never dpnbt again, that well-broke dogs can bj made ro po.nt anything, or-nothing !" " And, is Bob a brute, now ?" " ^'"'^^ ^' *'"^ ''^""'y. l^"' Bob is the best ; and that is ' «-«! 118 AMERICAN GAME. not saying a little, for, on the whole, they are the very best brace I have ever seen together." "I thought that you would say so— and you have had — 'J " A right good lesson on dog-breaking, so good night." 1 1 i: ii good niffht." * 03 03 H U THE STRIPED BASS. Zabrax Lincatus. THE BOCK FISir OF THE DEI.AWAKE AND SorTUWAHD. Tm. noble and sporting fi.h, which is peculiar to the eonnnent of North An,e..;ca, was ii.t, I L.ieve, t^ gu,^.ed and defined by the late leart.cd 1>. Mitchel,, of New York, thongh included by hin, i,, the division Pcrca, :n hen of Lalra., to which it has since been more correctly attrlbnted. I>r. Smith, in his "Fishes of Massaehnsetts," has severely censured Dr. Mitchell for his distinguish! g this fi h, and attaching to it his own nan.e-p. ,„:„ncing it to be a common table nsh, known from time immcnorial al lover Europe." Dr. Sn.ith, however, not Dr. Mitchell, -.the person in error; as the Striped Bass, Z«J,.«^z™.- «««., .s a purely American flsh, entirely distinct from the common European Bass, Lalra. Znpu., ,,,ich very rarely leaves the salt water, preferring to spawn in the sea bays, rather than to run up fresh streams or rivers A nifl 120 AMERICAN GAJME. B i tlioiigli it is said to have been taken in tlie Tiber, between tlie two bridges, by tlio ancient Eonians.''^' Tlicre is said to be a variety of this iisli fonnd in tlie St. Lawrence, whicli is described as wantiu'^ the rcirular distinctive lines of the Striped Bass, and is said to assume a more spotty coloring ; the spots, however, running in regular lines, five above and live below the lateral line, and somewhat resembling ancient church music, whence it has been named by Lieutenant Colonel Smith, who has done much for Canadian Icthyology, Lalrax Notatus. The Striped Bass does not, it aj^pears, run up the St. Lawrence so far as Quebec ; at least it is so stated by Dr. Richardson, in his great work on Northern Zoology ; but is commonly found, acccording to my friend, Mr. Pesley, the accomplished fisherman and historian of those wa- ters, in all the rivers of ]!^ew Brunswick, which debouche into the Gulf, where they afford fine sport with the large scarlet Ibis fly, used for salmon-trout, with the smelt as a trolling-bait, and with the clam, or a piece of lob- ster— the latter a bait which I liave never known to be used in our waters, though from its similarity to crab, which is in great request here at some seasons, it's excel- lence need not be doubted. '^ Histoire dcs Poissom, cited by Richardson, Fauna Borcali Ameri- cana. I should, however, entertain some doubt, if the identity of the fish depends merely on the identity of the classic name, Lupm,\\\i\\ the modern name — since the Latin Lupus is equally rendered Pike, which is found in those waters. i TIIE STEIPED BASS. iber, between found in the 1^ the regular lid to assume •, running in lateral line, Lusic, Avlienco aitli, wlio lias xix Notatiis. I up the St. stated by Dr. ioology ; but , Mr. Pesley, ni those wa- ch debouche ith the larixe h the smelt piece of lob- :nown to be rity to crab, US, it's excel- Borcali Ameri- identity of the Luims,\i\i\\ the :*ed Pike, which 121 So &r soutlnvard as the waters of the Cliosapoake B.t they are found iu abundance and of har^e sii !l 7' Falls of the Potomac is -, ,„„.i f ' "'° ill" them T, ! , , ' *'-«1"«»ted spot for talc- " " , „'"• ^' '^ ^'"teJ '" " The American An-^ler's heaid them named as southern fish, even so far -,, Charesto„Bay,towhiehTautogha.eb;enreco lyi tr^ Mates, while I hare the sanction of that distinguished Ic ^Vo^.st,thelateMr.Dnnhar,„fKewOrleai^^ g h few, ,f any, of our northern species are common io a e southern waters, it being his decided opinion that the ■ SI ei«.bead of the Gulf is a distinct fish from that of h Atlantic coasts. The Striped Bass is taken of all si.es, from a few ounces, up to seventy or eighty pounds, which may be si down as h;s maximum weight. Ite is of the ordef il t''oj>y,„ ,, tborny-finned fishes, having one or ml Wonyspniesinadvanceofeaehoftheroft-rayedlr m oSr""'""'^"'"''"-' "^ "--' «'-onsis ft 0 eight spmcs second of one spine, thirteen soft •ajs, he peeton^s of sixteen soft rays ; the ventrals of one spme, five soft rays ; the anal of three spine, twlve -ft rays; ami the caudal of seventeen rays too el Inm seated, subopcrculnm has two spines n. Z! ' ce.edb. he membranes, no scales o.!ti:;i^^^^ ll.e lateral ^ime of the fish io nearly straight. It is M 1 ^''' !l m Urn il ;fff:'^ B 1'i:-i'!l 122 ASIKRICAN GAME. covered with largo scales of a metallic or nacrous lustre, varying from reddish brown, with coorular and greenish reflections on the buck, to the brightest silver on the belly. It has eight, or sometimes nine longitudinal lines, tlie fourth of which corresponds with the lateral line, the first four rumiing through the whole lengtli of the fish, the others becoming fainter and gradually dying away, as they extend towards th., tail. He is a severe fish of prey and very voracious, and is accordingly equipped with a very powerful system of teeth, and his tongue is rough, like a file, with innumerable rows of small thorn- like teeth. Of all species, which may properly be called sea-fish, the Striped Bass is, perhaps, that which most afl:ects fresh waters, for at an early season in the spring, so soon as, or almost before they are clear of ice, he begins to run up the rivers in pursuit of the smelt, to which he is a cruel enemy and persecutor, and of the shad, which he follows assiduously to their spawning places, making sad havoc with the roe of the latter. Either of these, therefore— the smelt or spearling, or any very white and glistening fish, or even a piece of polished pearl or tin as a trolling bait, or in squidding with a hand-line— and the shad roe, potted and salted so as to preserve it, and attached to the hook with a needle- full of yellow silk, as a bottom bait, in rapid scours over gravelly ground, will be found exceedingly fatal baitf?. It is worthy of remark, however, that except in the spring season, and in rivers up which shad and smelt THE STEII'ED BASS. 123 are known to n,n, or on serf beaches, and in sea bays, it w,ll be worse than useless to use either, especially ,be -f" surfs, striped Bass will tate the artificial squid, mistanng n for the Spearling, ^M«.,«« 2renid!a,the Sand-lance, or other small fly on which they feed; and in t:de ways, such as Ilell-gate and the numerous pas- sages .n that ,.cinity, they are frequently taken in great numbers and of very large size, with that hideous ma- ruie reptile, the li%-ing squid. In the early spring, and in general water, shrimp are robah^^ the most killing bait, shad roe icepteT, Z nvors frequented by that fish. When crabs begi; to shed they may be used indiscriminately with .shrim,,- t 0. . ^r to be .shed with from one to Le til' the bottom, with a float and light sliding sinter. In t " early autumn, crab on the bottonr is preferred by many fn , lut m sw,tt streams, where the water is fresh, no bait, o my laney, equals any bright, gli.terin. &h jnrhng, ^ ^,,^_,^^ ,.„.,^ ^^ ^^ ^ «*> 0 a hundred yards of clever trolling-line, with a bottom f goo , round ,ng,e g„t, two swivels, a Ko. 1 lim^^ ;..'ongh the tail, and a sn.all perch hook through ' 1.1>, and askdfu, ,.,»„ to keep bin. glancing thro„:h t 1 ■■■l'l-!es, hfc-iike, till a ten-pounder strikes him wM „ an-owy rush, and whistles away some seventv yards of bne off your ringing click-reel, before you know v h 124 AMEEICAN GAME. you're about— for he is a deuce of a run-away, is your ten-pound Bass, when the barbed hook is in his jaws. He has not so much resource as the Sahnon, does not often throw himself oif t]ie surface water, or strive to fall on the tightened line and break it; neither have I seen him run in often, if ever, upon the angler, or sulk at the bottom. But I think his first rush, if anything, is stronger, and I am sure it is longer, than that of an equal salmon. He will fight hard, for his time ; but his time, providing you keep a taught hand on him, make him work for every inch of line, and mind not to let him smash you, either against rocks on the bottom, or against piles or stumps, the neighborhood of which he loves, and around which he is sure to twist you if you let him, will not be so long by twenty minutes, as a ten-pounder Salmon on a fly, well played, with good tackle— without it you have not a chance— and twelve minutes should have him dead-:beat, and half-drowned, with the gaff in his glitter- ing sides. Fly-fishing is not certain for Bass ; when they are in the humor to take, however, they give flue sport; and in a fine spring morning, with a dark rufile on the water, it is worth the while trying. A salmon rod will be re- quired for this sport, with a reel, of course ; a single-gut bottom, and any large, gaudy lake-fly ; but none is, I think, so killing as that made by the Conroys, especially for the Black Bass of the lakes, GAstes Nigricans, an entirely different fish, peculiar to the St. Lawrence Wl i THE STEIPED EAS3. |i 12S bas„ , but equally Icilli,,. fo,. t,;^ j,;, Silver P],ea.a„t, wiH. a scarlet ./.„,7 body. On the 8t lawreuce it is sure deatl,. '• Of sauiddino. at uigbt wW, h„„,,,„3 ,, ,„^, ^^^ harder ^SZ T '" *'"* *''*'™' ^* '« ">"«'' , \"''^ *'""' ''"'' ^l'~'' ; --""l. as is tl.e case, I think ^vith most game iisb, the largest neither give tie Zl si^o..the«shermanont,^ .7.1- . i. , *= ^^^^ ^01 ™ one, and tlie most o>, byi lady, five to ten pounds weight, and ].e wil wo* yo„ on the line, or please you on tl. platte. Ot that s,ze, boil him, and serve him with anchovy or t'7f ^"""^^ -«1 «'« -l»eeze of a le„.on ; or roas Wm s .Jted With bread-crumbs, suet, sweet herL, leZ^ ' • oysters, and basted with anchovy-butter, and J^ "',""'" ''"■' '"'"-"•' »■ you've a lot of then,, with . hvnch or two of silver Passaic eels, pork, onions ota wZT;, ""■' '" *"^'" ^" ^"™'- --^ ™ - " tt!tl •"' ""' '" "^^'"-^ <"^ *"!'• -''» -Jon' up, o to tinnk of Frank Forester, after the first plateful ' After the striped Bass has had his own fan vvith the 4 ill f: , ■' ^r'llB - ' iUm < M wt ii; i 9B ■ '-1 ■ ■ i' /I 4 ;^ii. . 1 ■' :,'i'i is;* ' ifli' •■ ; ". . } ' :,:'f ■:<'»■' ■1 ',;.•», -ItiWgj : '■'■ Jl«i ^ 1 ill J'! iil m|H i : III I Pf , fiiH '" ''i riil '^iPl :;i III I \i 126 AMERICAN GAMIB. I f ■ t I i It m i smelt and sluid-roe, in tlie spring, lie disappears from among us for a time, having run up nearly to the head- M-aters of his breeding streams, wJi^^re he may deposit his ova in the elear, cold aerated M'atirs, running limpid over yellow sands and brigh^ . -^ hi es, which are the best suited to the reproduction of .j^ecies. Soon after he has performed this dutj^, he returns, far less reduced, I know not wherefore, by the act of spawn- ing, than other anadromous fishes; and, thereafter, during the hot months of midsunnncr, and the earlier part of autumn, he is to be found in the estuaries, and the silver-Hashing surges of our outer beaches, where he is taken in great abundance by the ami^hibious popula- tion of those regions, with the squid and hand line. Later in the autumn, he again rushes up the rivers, partly in pursuit of his prey, and partly, it is supposed, from dislike to the tumultuous seas, produced by the winter storms ; since it cannot be, as was once imagined, in avoidance of cold ^Jiat he winters in fresh water, for it is ascertained that salt water maintains the highest temperature. In the rivers, however, it is, or rather in the lagoons and shallow bays at their mouth, that he passes the cold season, lying in a half torpid state on the mud at the bottom ; nor even here is he safe, at least in northern regions, for Mr. Perley states that he is easily distinguished in the shallow waters, through the clear, newly-formed ice, which is speedily cut through, and friend Zah'ax fished up in scoop-nets by the Micmacs and Milicetes, no slight addition to their frugal winter fare. •pears from > the head- nay deposit ling limpid ire the best :'etiirns, far ; of spawn- thereafter, :he earlier laries, and , where he IS 2^023ula- line. he rivers, supposed, 3d by the imagined, ivater, for e highest rather in I, that lie .te on the t least in is easily he clear, igh, and nacs and :er fare. MAY. 'ijc |iiicrit(iir Drcoli ^xmt Salino FonUmUin, NORTH AMEi.MCA; LABRADOR TO THE PACll-iC. ®|e f raf 600se. Anas Bernida. I If Liil (i( I! , i li z ' THE BROOK TEOUT. Scdmo Fontinalia, This meny month of May is tlie month of all others dear prescriptiA^ely to the troiit-tisher. In England, it has been for centm-ies admitted the sweetest and tlie fairest month of spring; the month "where sweets compacted he, the union of the earth and skj." Poets have sung it, and traditions hallowed it ; and, fro-i the old daj^ when the hoary druids culled with their golden hooks the sacred mistletoe, and the young maidens were astir before tiie morning star, to gather maydew in the flowery meadows, even to this hard, real, unideal nine- teenth century, the month of May has a character of its own, not with young lovers only, but with the world in general, different from that of any other of the twelve changeful cycles, and differently hailed of men. ^ In England, as I have said, it is the sweetest, with us in America it is the first, I had almost said the only month of spring. For, in our western hemisphere, the winter hangs so heavily, and lingers so late into the 6* IJii !| 1 •!: Hi M 1 ■111 I 180 AlMiajICAN 0A5IE. lap of summer, that in good truth, in some years, we have no spring at all ; and in the most favorable seasons, the tierce and cutting north-casters of March, with tlieir whirling snow-drifts, their pelting huil-stones, and tlieir incessant scud of inky storm-clouds, render it the most hateful month of all the twelve, and to invalids the most terrible and fatal. April succeeds ; and if one genial day, with a soft breeze from the southward or south- westward, and a glimpse or two of watery sunshine, call the willow-buds to bursting, and a few, the earliest, meadow-blooms to blowing ; waken the whistle of the blue-bird among the apple-boughs, and the chirrup of the frog from the morasses, the next is sure to follow, loaded with sheeted mists sullenly sailing westward before a soul-searching and ice-cold gale from Labrador or Greenland, and the promise of the year is not only deferred, but, it may well be, nij^ped outright, for that the earth has reposed rash faith in the fair but false- seeming visage of the skies. But, with May, if there be any vernal weather coming,^ we have it jn-esent. The fury of the east wind, if not quelled, is broken ; and we shall have green leaves rustling into breezy life, and warblers busy in the orchards, brown thrushes vocal in the woodlands, swallows skimming the pools and twittering in the eaves; and last, not least, trout flashing through the glassy ripples, as they spring fast and frequent to clutch m THE BBOOK TROUT. 131 the insect ,o„cl whicl. como forth now so plentoously to Bport the,., l.ttio day in the warm sunshine. Along the Athvntic eoast, indeed, on Long Isl„„d, „„a oast o/t, T ' ";'""' '" '"'' "'""o 0" "- ^«'""- coat of the Un,ted States trout prevail, fishing is per- "utted by law, and practised by sportsmen, long before th., the true month of the ily-feher. I„ Mareh it com! tout-iish,ng perhaps in all the country; but where .ho e reams are now whipped so severely, that, in spite of nngent regulations lately resorted to-to; latdylj he vam hope of preserving them, the run of fish aro deelnung .„ s.e year after year, and a good day's sport s las getting to be a thing littlo to be expecte , s a,^ even to be hoped for. I„ March, the tro!t wil r y look at the fly, and they are caught at this season for the -OS part with the float and red, or brandling worm • Z bngh , warm days, however, they will at times take tl o artiftcal fly, and it is remarkable that very earlv in to season they Will rise at a bright, gaudy ^^^^^^ n nature, wh.eh a month or two later they would probt My reject with contempt. Two or three years JZ, and gold twist body; but subsequently it has failed ho ~%, as to have fallen intolme Lt o^dS ^^ Tl.e fl.es especally recommended for this month. Lt t.ons of the natural insects, are the red fly, blue dm «d spmner, great dark dun, cow-dung fly, 1^^ rch loZ', ''It; h f I 1 1' 'H] 182 AMEKICAN GAME. or dun drake, and great red spinner; and any of tliese are well-proved and successful flies in England ; but in tins country tlie fact is, that even in tlie warmest regions in wliicli tlie American brook-trout is found, the natural fly of any kind is scarcely on the water at all at this season ; and that one is just as likely as the other. April brings the golden dun midge, the sand fly, the stone fly, the grannom, or green tail, the yellow dun, the iron-blue dun, the jenny-spinner, and the hawthorn fly. The third, fourth,- and fifth of which will be found very tempting during the whole period of spring fishing ; as ■will also, or perhaps I should say, more so, the yellow May dun, the black gnat, the downhill fly, the Turkey brown, little dark spinner, yellow Sally, fern fly, or soldier, alder fly, and green and gray drake, which' may be regarded as pai;ticularly, according to the dodtrin aires, the flies of the month. I confess that I am not myself a believer in the use of particular flies, for par- ticular months or seasons, except as regards particular waters; and, in fact, such an application is utterly impossible in a country of the extent of the trout-fishino- region of North America ; where the mc .ths and the very seasons diff'er by twenties and forties of degrees. Tlie trout-fishing region of North America may be said* generally, to extend from Nova Scotia and Lower Canada, eastward to the feeders of Lake Superior on the west, and from the extreme northern seas to the Atlantic coasts, eastward of the Hudson. Westward of that THE BEOOK TEOUT. 133 nrer, they are scarcely found south of the T^lle-^hany ndges, uor in the Western States south of the Great lakes or west of Michigan, until we reach the Pacific watershed.* Kow, as this district extends over not less lian thirty-liye degrees of longitude from east to west, by fifteen of latitude from north to south, it must ho obvious that no general rules can be adopted which shall be ai^hcable to the whole of that vast tract. In the British provinces, and Lower Canada, the rivers are not clear of thick ice until the end of April or early in May ;^ and in the western country, on Lakes Huron and fcnpenor, the season, if any thing, is later. On Long Island, in May, trout-fishing is nearly at an end ; on the Calhcoon, the Beaverkill, and the various tributaries of the upper Delaware and Susquehanna, it is then be-nn- nmg, and is shortly after in its perfection. On the superb lakes and streams of Hamilton county, New lork, and of the Korth Eastern States, June is the month ^.«. «.,«,„,,. and probably, for those who can endure the pest of the black fly and black midge, there IS no such fishing i„ the world, for extent of water, quan- tity, and size of fish, and loveliness of scenery, as the former locality can afford to those who are bold enough * In the West™ and Southern States several different fish, in nowise conneeted with the trout, nor belonging to the same fau,ily »./«„ arc h.ow„ as 1,0.,. Tiie lish so ealled from South Carolina, southward is a variety of the Squeteague or wheat fish, Otomm Carolim,ms-iLt nusnamed trout in the West is a species of fresh water boss, or „r„„a. *»!ll i.i:i \ [I If I "na, 1 T 'I 4, ; ■ '■{ J ■It- u/l^ ■' li MH 134 A2HEEICAN GAME. !! f to defy the plague of flies, and rougli it. At the Sault St. Marie, the outlet of Lake Superior into Lake Huron, where the St. Marie, a river above a mile wide, rushes in a sheet of glancing and foaming rapids, down a descent of some twenty-four feet in about a mile, literally alive with the most magnificent brook-trout, by far the largest, in the general run, of any taken in America, the season does not begin until very late, and the fishing is not con- sidered to be in its prime until September. The fish here are of the finest quality, for size, beauty of color- ing, and excellence of flesh. From two to three pound may be considered, I think, as about the average run of fish, but five and six pounders are by no means rarities ; and it is on record that one fish a little exceeding ten pounds, and many exceeding nine, were brought into the American fort by the Lidians, a premium having been ottered for a ten-pounder. These, I wish it to bo particularly observed, are not lake trout of any variety — several species of which are found in the same waters — but the genuine red-spotted brook-trout, with pink sides and silver belly, and tricolored fins, white, black, and red, when in high season. It dift'ers in nothing, except size and brilliancy of tints, both the result of feeding and quality of water, from the famous Long Island trout of Snedecor's and Carman's, or from the small fry, scarcely bigger than minnows, which swarm in every rocky basin of every mountain brooklet from THE BROOK TROUT. 135 Maine, I^ew Hampsliire, and Vermont, to npland Penn- sjlvania. Tiie fishing at the Sault St. Marie is difficult, because It IS practiced from that, to one unaccustomed to its use most ticldish of all ressels, a birch-bark canoe, poled b^ an Indjan up the foaming rapids, or guided down them, and held steady from time to time in the most favorable spo s. Where, however, the angler is so well accustomed to ns conveyance as to be able to balance his body without bracing it, and move his arms without danger of upsetting the canoe, the sport is admirable, the scene enchautmg, and the fun vastly enhanced by the touch of romance and possibility of danger, which, however, with a good Indian at the pole or paddle, amounts to no more at most than a possibility. The best rod to use in this powerful and tumultuons torrent is a tolerably stiff tourtcen foot fly-rod ; the water is so much broken, that tackle may be used which, from its coarseness, would be quite out of the question in fine and clear waters ; and he most killing flies are large and moderately gaudy ake flies. Such as are used on the Irish lakes I prefer to the very fancy-colored flies which are often used on the Hamilton county waters, and the very best assort- meiit of these I have ever seen, were tied by my friend Dmks," of Canada West, who has proved them mur- aorous in that locale. It must, of course, be evident, that in a paper limited m length sueh as this, it is utterly impossible to go at ri m Y- Mm ill i iili 136 AMERICAN GAME. length into a subject so intricate and so full of details, as the habits and nature of trout, their haunts, habita- tions, and all the various devices for taking them which have been invented by the ingenuity of man. Of fresh water fish, they have been in all ages consid- ered the best on the board ; and, as fish of game, none except others of their own family, such as the salmon, the salmon-trout, the grayling, and one variety of the lake-trout, are worthy of com])arison to them ; bold, active, and fierce in pursuit of their prey, voracious in their appetites, so cunning and quick-sighted that they can be deceived only by the finest of tackle, and the most exquisite imitations of the flies on which they feed by preference ; so vigorous, determined and savage in their resistance to the hook after being struck, tliat they can be mastered only by a rare combination of science and skill, of delicacy and firmness, of perseverance and resources : the capture of the brook-trout with the arti- ficial fly and single gut, or single horse-hair, which must be had recourse to where the streams are fine and the fish shy, is the very ne plus ultra^ and has ever been so indisputal^ly admitted, of the anglers' art. The imple- ments are a light twelve-foot rod, very pliable and springy, and bending on a strain, in an even curve from the second joint to the tip — I prefer a solid butt, which gives more power in leverage and resistance against a strong run-aw\iy fish, and the spare tips can be carried in tb*^ handle of the landing-net, or gaff— a good clicJc THE BROOK TEOTJT. 137 reel, by no means a multiplier, thirty lines of good hair, or hair and silk line, with a casting line of the best gut, about four and a half or five feet in length, and two^ or three casts of flies, twisted round your hat, each having a difl^rent fly for the dropper, to be changed, accordingly as you And flsh in the humor to rise. My own favorites are the marlow buzz, better known as the coch-a-bonddlue ; silver-horns, black and silver twist hackle, the green and gray drakes, the yellow Sally, the downhill fly, woodcock wing, and red hackle, the grannon, or green tail, the blue and yellow dun flies' and almost any of the spinners. I am also rather par- tial to the buzz-dressed, nnwinged hackle flies of almost any color, with red, green, black or yellow bodies, which may be varied with gold or silver twist. Any of these I can recommend by experience as killing flies ; I should not omit the small black midge, which on some waters, and in some states of weather, is a most killing lure to wary flsh, being very small, and requiring delicate tackle. Where waters are much flshed, and trout so much per- secuted as to be very shy of rising, sport may sometimes be had by Ashing at twilight with a large white miller, white hen's wing, white chevil body and black head' and as the largest and laziest, and, of course, fattest flsh rarely pursue their prey in the day time, but are on the feed all night, if any sport is to be had at all in this manner, it is nearly certain to be good sport. Large trout may be killed thus in the upper Delaware, 188 AMERICAN GAME. along tlie line of the Erie railroad, where the country people will tell you that there are no trout in the river, though the small creeks are full of them. The truth is the fish in the river are very much fewer in number, but as much superior in size and weiglit. Tliey who, like me, prefer to kill a one, two or three-pounder to ten dozen fingcrlings of four or five ounces each, are advised to try the miller by dusk or by moonliglit, and if there be a big fellow about, he is pretty sure to be tempted. The trout does not, wlien feeding, travel or swim in shoals; he lies in wait in his own peculiar haunt, and thence strikes at whatever he sees passing that tempts • his appetite. This haunt is generally in tlie neighbor- hood of a stone or root, near tlie head or tail of a rapid, in an eddy or swirl of the current, or in the broken wa- ter caused by the division of a current above the head of an island or shoal, and its reunion below it. Here tliey lie with tlie head up stream, perfectly motionless, not even wagging a tail or twinkling a fin, until their object is in view, and then darting upon it with speed that mocks the eye. They are insensible to sound, but so quick of sight, and so wary that the mere shadow of the rod projected across the water will prevent their taking a fly, however hungry they may be, and how- ever skillfully the lure may be presented. It is better to fish down stream, away from the sun, and across the wind, if possible ; but the three contin- gencies are not always compatible. When a trout is II the country 11 the river, The trutli is number, but Y who, like nder to ten are advised nd if there temjited. or swim in haunt, and :hat tempts 3 neighbor- of a rapid, broken wa- e the lieud ■ it. Here motionless, until their vith speed sound, but shadow of vent their and how- i the sun, ee contin- a trout is THE BEOOK TEOUT. 139 !,i!tl "Sing often, endeavor to drop your % directly in the con,, of the eirele where he hell. „p, „nd if it alight Si "'.f' V" •'" "'"•' "" ^"" '"■'^'^y -''»^'^ It . , '' " •"■"'' "^ " ^'■■"-' "- ^™'». 0. just as it is leaving it, when you are withdrawing it for .lother east-that is, whenyourline is perfectly straight and t,gh,, he Will hook himself; otherwise it is neces- sary to strike Imn, which is done by a very slight inde- scnbable inward turn of the wrist ; when he ts struck, «.egreascci.t of playing and killing hhn is to nial.: b.m fight hi. hardest for every inch of line you give lii,« "ever to give hiin one which he does not take, and to m.ss no opportunity, when hi, run is over f„r tlie ino- .-.ieiit, and he is weakened, to reel in as fast as vou ,„ay Widioiit overstraiiiing; always e.ideavor to cirry hi„, down streain, as the gill, are so closed by the actL. of tl>e water, and his breathing is i,npeded. If be is ,„,k. ang for a stone or piles whereon your tackle would prob- uWy be broken, or down a fall, so that you must turn or osehiin, advaiice your butt, inclini.ig your rod quite bacward over the riglit shoulde.-, so as to make him take the full strain a.id leverage of the whole length of your rod ; when he is dead beat, di-aw him warii; and gently into the shoal wate.-, or to yo.ir boat side, slip your landiiig-net under, or your gaff into him, and he IS yours. If ho be above two pounds weight, stim him with a blow on the head, crossiiig by a sei-ies of cuts parallel to i\m I f. "HPHi 140 AJVIERICAN GAME. the gills, at about two inches apart from head to tail, cool him for ten minutes in a very cold spring, or on ice, boil him in screeching hot salt and water, and eat him with no condiment but salt and the squeeze of a lemon. If ho be, under a pound, there is nothing for it but to fry him, but remember to use neither butter nor lard, which are abominations to the gnostic, but the best oil of Aix, and see that the oil is seething and the pan crack- ling hot before you put them in. Garnish with fried parsley on a very hot dish ; and in wliichever way you cook them, cat them — whenever you can get them, that is to say, between March and September — in the north- west you may substitute for the last ]!^ovember ; on the third of which month, last season, I discoursed sundry in prime condition, at mine host Brown's, on the Sault St. Marie ; and the taste k scarce out of my mouth yet. I have tasted nothing like them since, or expect to do so until next September, when, the wind and weather-gods permitting, I hope to wet a line there, in the Fly-fisher's true Paradise. And may you have, whoever you be, gentle reader, and wheresoever you throw the long lino and neat fly, such sport as I anticipate. ad to tail, , or on ice, i eat him ' a lemon, it but to nor lard, e best oil pan crack- vvith fried ' way you Lliera, that ;he nortli- jr ; on the ,ed sundry the Sault nouth yet. 3t to do so ither-gods ly-fislier's 3r you be, 3 long lino i m u a u $i m. THE BEENT GOOSE. THE BEANT.— ^«,ffls Semicka. ^ Tms beautiful and delicious wild.fo,vl, like several of Its congenors which breed within the limits of the Arctic Circle, is common to both continents of Europe and America, and is with „s in the northern Atlantic states perhaps the most numerous, and certainly the most esteemed, whether as an object of sport or an article of food, of the varieties of this family, which are common upon our coasts. To the Canada Goose, or Wild-Goose, as It IS more usually termed. Anas Canadcnm, it is uni- versally, and not undeservedly, preferred ; althou.^h, in my opnnon, the former is itself entitled to a far hi.dier place than is generally assigned to it among the water- fowl of America. The Snow-Goose, Am, ILj^crlorem, and the White-Fronted Goo.se, Anas Amif.ons, are so rare that opportunities seldom occur of testing their com- parative excellence. In England I on.ee tasted the latter fowl, and found it scarcely distinguishable f,-om the Grey lag, or common Wild-Gooee of Europe, Anas Anser .^pfff^ i^-i 144 AMERICAN GAME. by the Canada Goose, on the breaking up of the ice in spring, and again at the setting in of winter, the Brent Goose is unknown both to the Indians and to tliG white settlers ; nor are they known about the yet more north- erly forts of the Hudson's Bay Company— short of the Bay itself, where they abound—who regard the Canada Goose as one of the principal, if not the chief article of their subsistence. The breeding j^lace of the Brent Goose is very far to the north, though not so far as that of the Wild-Goose, which is supposed, not without'reason, to rear its young and pass the brief days of summer of the Arctic Circle in the regions of the Pole itself, while the Brent has been found on its nests in Labrador, to the northward of Hud- son's Bay and in Boothia Felix. Here, fearless of the ambushed gun, and the murderous battery, it revels dur- ing a few short months in those to it delightful solitudes, occupied with the charms of love, and the cares of rear- ing its young. It does not, however, tarry long in its northern asylum, as it is usually looked for in the Long Island waters, and at Barnegat, Egg Harbor, and other shooting stations on the Jei-sey coast, early in October, and has been seen so early as the 20th of September. Its stay in these place-, is uncertain, depending very much on the nature of the season, often remaining, if it be open weather, during nearly the wliole of the winter, while on the contrary, if the bays are frozen early, it at once towers aloft and takes its way southward. It seems, how- THE BREJST GOOSE. 145 i^iii ever, to come southward continually by successive partial ni.grat.ons, until the freezing of the feeding-grounds compel it to march southwardly The food of the Brant is prmcipally the eel-grass,^. ^«-. fc« wherever that favorite dainty f al tl ^uat.e tnbes is to be found in plenty, and a bLd-lcave^ bngh green marine plant, called by the country people sea-cabbage which adheres to the stone, on most of ou beaches After these it never dives-although it i remarlcable that when wing-tipped it i. the mos^dexter- ous of the famdy, often going a hundred yards or upward under water, and being therefore regarded as almost .mpossable to Idll,if not shot dead outright. At low Z ter ,t wades about incessantly, tearing up its favorite vegetables by the roots, but neglecting to eat them until they are floated away with the rising tide, when it does not take wnig, as most wild-fowl, but iloats away idly in long hneswith its companions, in pursuit of its now floa mg damty, and fares sumptuously on the proceeds of Its prevzous industry. They are not unpugnacious brds, being often seen fighting among themselves, and beatmg the ducks away from their feedaig-grounds ; their cry >s a hoarse, gabbling, honking sound, vcy diiferent however, from the honk of the Wild-Goose, and by fj more difficult to imitate, and is said closely to resemble when several hundreds are screaming together, the cho- rus of a pack of hounds in full cry. On their return from the south, with renovated powers J I'': 146 AMKKICAN GABIE. i ll in full, lusty liealth, rejuvenated, and exulting in the ap- proacli of their summer love-making, they are in their full perfection of plumage, and their utmost excellence for the table. There is no Long Islander, and few Jer- Roymen, who are not fully awake to the preeminent merits of a May Brant— for it is about the fifteenth of that genial month, when they for the first time reappear among us, the youth of the past year now in full adult plumage, and not to bo distinguished from the adults. They tarry, however, at this period but for a few dnys, ere they are again up and off to tlie northward ; still so eager are their pursuers at tliis season, tliat short as is their stay the havoc made among them is yet not incon- siderable. / At this season the Brant weighs about four pounds, and measures two feet in length from bill to tail, and three feet six from tip to tip of the extended wings. Tlie bill is black, ratlier higli at tlie base, the nostril medial. Tlie head, and the whole length of the neck, with the e?:ception of a wln'te oblong patch on cither side of the throat, rich velvety black ; front part of the breast cinc- rious brown, each feather broadly margined with pTfivip]! white. The upper parts blackish brown, each featiicr margined with lighter l)rown ; sides gray, margined witli white ; abdomen and vent pure white ; cpiills and pi-i- mary coverts dark blackish gray. Rump and middle tail feathers black, rest of the tail grayish white. Iridcs hazel ; legs dusky. The female is smaller than the male, THE BRENT GOOSE. 147 There is „ variety of this fine goose, pretty well known on long Mana, the true nan>e of which is IlutchW Goose, orllutehins' Brant; it is somewhat smalleTrd - heu of the lateral white throat patehes, ha a wMt! gorget a good deal si„.i,ar to that of the Canada G biI':;:;T:: '^ "^ "°'^^ ofMUngthisdelieions' b cI ot wi ch there are four ; three of them, ,ne juance to pass, and, observing the ar.cho,^d deccts, wheel down to then,, he is secure at --of sport, and of after excitement in pursuing and lucking up tlie cripples. The disadvantages to this method are the following- Fn.t, the Braut is on our waters a Ia.y, inactive bi^; 1 'I 11 vm ; if. 148 AitEEICAN GAME. I il I f| averse to rising on the wing, and rarely doing so unless alarmed by a passing boat or the firing of a gun ; and this tendency is increased in consequence of its feeding afloat at high water, without taking the wing at all, while the other varieties of wild-fowl, as point after point is successively submerged, are compelled to take wing, and cross the points of hassock, or run the gauntlet of the islands in going to or returning fromliis favorite feed- ing place. Second, the known aversion of this bird to pass over or near points or islands, which is no less manifest in its transits up and down the bay, than in its longer voyages, for it may be said that it never when on the wing ap- proaches the gunner's ambush, or notices his decoys, however temptingly they may ride and dip at anchor, when near the land, unless they be jammed down by the wind upon a leeward point, one of which is always se- lected by the best gunners who have watched the direc- tion of their morning transit, and w^lio know how they must return. This difficulty is but partially compensated by the habit of the Brant of occasionally swimming in among the stools, and so affording an easy and sure shot- There is another ftict, however, which, as I said above, may be made directly subservient to this sport, and thus it is — Brent Geese, while feeding, as they drift about at high water, may be herded like so many sheep, and caused to swim in any direction desired, and may be so driven down upon the decoys, for which they are almost THE BRENT GOOSE. 149 course, all would be over T 1 ol t ""="' "'*'" ^^ ner should tl>erefo,-e be wn '"" '"'^ "^ *''^ «^'"- .tillM with the „r.„d T''' ••""';™''="f»'. - -ell as he is drivin. hZ; T ""''' ''" "'^^"^^ *''« ^^-l well rlnnn • ^ ^^'^ *^'^ initiative. Tlii. ::i anVr;:: r "^ ^--^ ^^-'' «-' ^^ in U.e, Wa.r: i:X,7' """""' "'"■^''' "^'*"- ^^^^^ > i-uut feliootmg can success be looked at nightTea .Tnd T,"' " " """''™"'^'- -'"™ '--e «.an:o.„e Tol: 0 C Jf ^^T^ '"=" "^ ^-^' -X indirections, such X 't^ TauT f ''. to nan,e hereafter, though with ^'led, ^™'^ "'venters, and disgustful contll ;'''f "="™^ »" «'« «'-, as nrethodstf Brant:;:;.!:: ''"^ ''''"''^' '' -"ped attitude, J^z d:;;:;^"'---'' -nning his li.bs with eLcise? H Itl T" ^^ -' and war,n„ clad, or he shall :^^t2:: mm ■mtea0H3iitBmm 150 AaiERICAN GAME. tolerably, mucli less to enjoy liimsclf or win renown, let the flocks fly as full and fre(iiient us they will. Tlie following dress I have fonnd the best— those may sneer who will, but I think, and they will find, when their fortieth year brings crippling rheumatism, that it is wisdom at all times to be as comfortable as one may, and that it is no mark of manhood, but rather of very con- temptible folly, to lie cold and shivering, for the want of a few precautions which may be easily taken, and will make you as much at your ease as may be, in a Dela- ware skiff or Egg-Harbor pig-box. First, over your ordinary under-clothes wear a stout pair of Canada-gray cloth trousers ; over these a pair of long worsted stockings, and over these again long pliable Canadian boots. A red flannel shirt, and above that a guernsey, with what waistcoat and shooting-jacket you will, and over all an oil-skin coat, as near as may be of the drab color of the sedge and hassock ; on your head a woolen night-cap, and above it a gray tow hat; and— though your rig may teri-ify into convu-lsiona a yoimg JVeiv Yorker^ with ends to his white choker longer than the yard-arms of a first-rate— take my word for it, it will not scare Brant, Goose, or Eed-llead from your stools, and it will keep you, with the aid of a modicum of cogniac, Jamaica, or Ferintosh, as your taste may incline, cozy and good-natured, while your friend, who is too manly to take coimsel, is as cold and as cross as whatever is most frigid and most fiendish. THE BllENT GOOSE. 151 I reco]nmend-for reasons why, too lonj. hero to set forvvard,-seo my Field Sports, vol. II., p. 119— the use of two single guns of 10 lbs. weight, 42 inch barrels and 5 guage, in preference to any double-barrel guns on earth lor this shooting. They should be made without ribs, pipes or ramrods-a loose loading-rod, which is a clean- ing-rod also, lying in the boat when in use, being adopted as a substitute. This should be made with a joint at ex- aetly the length of the gun-barrel, so that it can be car- ried within it when travelling ; the upper joint about 6 inches in length, screwing into the other, and fitted with a knot at the top, like a pistol-charger, may bo carried in the pocket when in locomotion. Such a gun will cany 4 oz. of BB, or t wenty-iiN-e buck-shot, without j ai- or recoil ; u,sc equal measures of shot and Curtis and Ilarv- -'s duck- ing powder, to be procured of Brough, Fulton-street, Kew York— and coarse felt punched wadding, and you will do your work at eighty, ay, by 'r lady ! or one hun- dred yards, and you will not repent you of following my counsel. Tlie murderous modes, which I have so strongly repro- bated, and to which I shall devote but a few words, are, iirst, the anchoring batteries, as they are called, shallow coffin-like boxes, supported by wide horizontal brims lying IcTOl on the surface of the water, covered with sand and shells, and exactly resembling a bit of bare shoal, upon the shallows whereon the fowl feed. Decoys are placed around, and an attendant waits in a skiff to secure l.'^ 1 'w^frf 1 "i ! '■ 1 'y ' i, • fl m !!iil 152 ASIERIOAN GAME. tlie cripples and drive up fresh flocks, while the gunner lies perdu literally under water, until he starts up to do bloody execution. The evil of this method, (of the other two, which I shall barely name, as they are far less practiced, one, I believe, only at one point,) is, that fowl, when constantly harassed and disturbed on their favorite grounds, while in the act of feeding, will rise high into the air and desert the places in which they are so wantonly tormented forever; whereas they may be peppered at day by day for years, and decimated as they fly to and fro without connecting the idea of the persecution with the feeding grounds, and without increasing in shyness or decreasing in numbers. The second unsportsmanly and slaughterous plan is running down upon them before the wind under sail, while on their feeding grounds, which is easily done, as the fowl appear wholly unable to distinguish the rate of a sail-boat, and let it run closely in upon thevu before they will take wing. Tlie havoc thus made is prodigious ; the consequences as above, the permanent and entire de- sertion of the spots where such brutalities are practiced. The last is akin to these. It is a necessity to the Brant to sand and dust themselves occasionally, and probably to obtain small gravel-stones to aid their digestion, and they have regular sanding places, as they are termed, to which they punctually and constantly resort. This habit observed, the pot-hunter digs his hole in the sand-hill, III ii.'! ill! THE BltENT GOOSE. 153 shots L,ke the owner of the goose with the golden op, he wm find too late that he has killed his people as ^ero w,shed to do, at a single blow. Legislation ha he n „ed, against all these three eowardly iniquities and „t course tried in vain. It rests to see what iS catmg a spu-,t of sportsmanship n,ay do ; but I am little -gnme, seeing that true sportsmanshi; like the game « f-n would, but eannot, protect, decreases yeafw year many of those who boast themselves sportsmen and here an I would I could name names, dobg dreds' .e foullest pot-hunter would shrink from and f„ dig hemse ves as high as ever in their own esleem, though lower han the lowest in the judgment 6f the judiciour. Be tins, however, as it may be, the only hope is in the eftorts of the honorable sportsman, and so iJZ W ul ever of the best, hold the helm steady, stee ol «Jgh sauan or hurricane, and never-whatt: b^ tide— never give up the ship t 7* \m\ Ml la I I ■i VI. JXTNE. ^t |lcb-brca$fcb Snipe. Scolojmx Xocel ornceuxin. KUEIN SNIWO, (jUAIL SiMPE, DOWITCUEE. THE IIUDSOXIAN GODWIT. Limosa irudsnnica. RING-TAILED MARLIX. NORTH AMERICA; LABRADOR TO THE GULF. " J! * , ^\t Suliiioir. Sal/no Suliif, LABRADOR; BRITISH PROVINCES: STATP nr. ; STATE OF MAINE. B * '•Hi 41 \IIU i\ ij ill [{} $u it i 11 1 if 1 m Vj- ii ii? I II \i nil . I- H O en 1-4 I ! ' e llP~*'' ^ ■Ml :{ s ■5 1 'UHh I s S 1 ' 1 •, ""-'J . 1 - 1 % 1 > r ^ « -- ' o z ^^ ^ ^ «) - ■■ ' "< t^ i " 0} ' = < 1 » n Q J ^ U / / - PS ( ii '■' \Jv 'A .1 w f' IJ'I I THE SNIPE. THE HUD80NUX GODWIT.-Z.Wsc. ^^A^wVa. VulgO. RING-TAILED MARLIN. THE BED-BBKASTED m.^^.-Soolopax NoveUracemu. •'"'«». KOBM-BREiST, «U/.,I, s»IPE, DOWIIOEEE. Wb the general, and r.ry incorrect appellation of Bay Snipe and sometimes of Plover, the sea-shore gun- ners, and city fowlers who accompany them for pleasure are wont to include many totally distinct and different fam, hes of waders, each containing several varieties, and all, though m some sort connected, entirely dissimilar in diaractens ,cs plumage, cry and flight, as well as in some peculiarities of habit. Of these families, the most remarkable are the Curlew theTattler, foto„«, . the Plover, o/,«mrfn«. ,- the SnL ^coo^a.,- the Turnstone, strepsilas; the Sanderiing L Wn.; the A „ ,._.,.<,..; and the 8ti.t, mZI rieC; :t4T-^'^'" ""^^ '-- -- ^^^'^ y J' i-.3„ita^ts w some portion of the Atlantic y »i I ! •«, i^ *»! 158 AMEUICAN GAME. m '. shores of :N' ortli America, from the Bay of Boston to the Bulize. In the tepid waters of rh)ri(hi, the great bay of Mobile, the sea hakes of Borgrie and Pontchartrain, and all along the muddy shoals and alhiWal flats of the lower Missis- sippi, these ar[uatic races dwell in myriads during the winter months, when the ice is thick even in the sea bays of the Delaware and Chesapeake, and when all the gashing streams and vocal rivulets of the T^orthern and Middle States, are bound in frozen silence. In the spring, according to the temperature of the season, from the middle of Ai)ril until the end of Ma}-, these migra- tory tribes begin to visit us of the northern shores, from the Capes of the Chesapeake, along all the river estua ries, sea bars, lagoons, and land-locked bays, as they are incorrectly termed, of Maryland and Delaware, the Jer- sey shores and the Long Island waters, so for as to Boston Bay, beyond which the iron-bound and rugo-ed natiiro of the coast deters them from adventuring, in the great flights with which they infest our more succulent alluvial shores and sea marshes. With the end of May, with the exception only of a few loitering stragglers, wounded, perhaps, or wing-worn, which linger after the departure of their brethren, they have all departed, steering their way, unseen, at immense altitudes, througli the trackless air, across the mighty continent, across the vast lakes of the north, across tlie unreclaimed and almost unknown hunting-grounds of 'ston to the THE SNIPE. 159 the red man, to those remote and nearly inaccesBible morasses of the Arctic Eegions whither the foot of man has rarely penetrated, and where the silence of a-es is interrupted only by the roll of the ocean snrf, the'thun- derous crash of some falling iceberg, and the continuous clangor of the myriads and millions of aquatic fowl Avhich pass the period of reproduction in those lone and gloomy, but to them secure and delightful asylums Early in the autumn, or, to speak more correctly, in the latter days of summer, the Bay birds begin to return in hordes innumerable, recruited by the young of the sea- son, which, not having as yet indued the full plumacre of their respective tribes, are often mistaken by sporL men and gunners, miacquainted with the distinctions of natural history, for new species. During the autumn they are much more settled and less restless in their habits than during the spring visit, when they are im- pelled northward by the irresistible cvstrum, whicli at that period stimulates all the migratory birds, even those reared in confinement and caged from the nest, to o-et under way and travel, whither their wondrous instinct orders them, in order to the reproduction of their kind m the localities most genial and secure. Throughout the months of August and September they literally swarm on all our sand-bars, salt meadows,' and wild sea-marshes, feeding on the beaches and about the slinllow pools left by tlie retiring tide, on the marine ammalcula3, worms, aquatic insects, small crabs, minute ill I - # If •'- 160 AMERICAK GAJVIE. shell-fisli, and fry; after this time, commencing from the beginning of October, they move southward for winter quarters, although some species tarry later than other., and some loitering individuals of all* the species linger behind until they have assumed their winter garniture, when they are again liable to be mistaken for unknown varieties. Of these misnamed Bay Snipe, the following are the Bpecies of each family most prized by the sportsman and the epicure, all of which are eagerly pursued by the gunner, finding a ready sale at all times, although, me judice, their fiesh is, for the most part, so oily, rank and sedgy, that they are rather nauseous than 'delicate or palatable. Much, however, depends on the state of their condition, the nature of the food on which they have fattened, and localities in whicli they feed ; and to some persons the very flavor of which I complain as rank, sedgy and fishy, appears to take the guise of an agreeable Jiaut gout. The Eed-breasted Sandpiper, Tringa Icelandica, known on the Long Island waters, among the small islets of whicli it is very abundant, as the " Robin Snipe," hj which name it is generally called, owing to the resemblance of its lower plumage to that of the Red- breasted Thrush, or Robin, Turdus migratorms, of this continent. In autumn this bird assumes a dusky gray upper, and white under plumage, and is then termed the « White Robin Snipe." In point of flesh it is one of THE SNIPE. 161 the best of the Shore-birds. It is easily called down to tlie decoys by a well simulated whistle, and is conse- quently lulled in great numbers. Tl.e Red-backed Sandpiper, Tnncja Alpina, generally known as the "Black-breasted Plover." It is frestless^ active and nimble bird, flies in dense bodies, whirling at a g'ven .s.gnal ; and at such tinaes a single shot will Ire- qnently bring down many birds. In October it is usually very iat, and is considered excellent eatin<. I„ it' antunmal phuuage it is . generally known to°ibwlers as the "Winter Snipe." The Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pcctoralU. This is a much smaller, but really delicious species, particularly when blled on the upland n.eadows. which it frequents ate in the sprmg and early in the summer, and on which I have killed it lying well to the dog, which will point Jt, ^vhile spring snipe-shooting. On Long Island it is hnownas the " Meadow Snipe," or "Short Neck;" on he Jersey shores, about Egg Harbor, where it sometimes hngers nntU the early part of November, it is called the ■at Bird,'- a title which it well merits ; and in Penn- sj vama where it occurs frequently, is often termed the Jack fempe." It is these blunde.-s in nomenclature, and mnltiphcation of local misnomers, which .-ender all d.s met,ons of sporl.manship so almost incomprehensible 0 he mlntbitant, of distant districts, and so perplexin. 0 the youthful naturalist. Daring the autumn of is/s I killed the Pectoral Sandpiper in great numbers, to- i . ■ , r !■ \ \\ 162 AMERICAN GAME. getlier witli tlie American Golden Plover, Charadrius Marmopatus, and tlie Black-bellied Plover, Charadrius Ilelmtlcus, on the marshes of the Aux Ca^iards I'iver, near Amherstberg, in Canada West, in the month oi' Sei^tembcr, and a month later at Montgomery's Pool, between lakes 8incoe and Huron. Of the Tattlers, three only are in repute as shore-birds, the best of the species, the Eartramian Tattler, Totamts Bartramms^ better known as tlie " Upland Plover," which is, in fact, -.vlth scarcely an exception, the most delicious of all our game-birds, being a purely upland and inland, variety, and as such never, or but extreme! v seldom, shot on the coast. These tlu'ee are. The Yellow-slianks Tattler, Totanus Flampcs, vulgo, " the lesser yellow legs"~a l)ird, in my opinion, of very indifferent cpialifications for the table, but easily decoyed, and readily answering the fowler's whistle, and there- fore affording considenible sport. Tlie Telltale Tattler, Totamts Vociferus, vulgo, "great- er yellow legs," a less numerous species than the former, and more suspicious. Its flesh, when it feeds on the spawn of the king-crab, or " Jlorse-shoe," is all but un- eatable, but later in the season it is in better condition, and is esteemed good eating. A few are said to breed in JSTe w Jersey. In the neighborhood of Pb iladelphia, where these birds are shot in groat numbers on the mud-flats of the Delaware from skiffs, with carefully concealed THE SiSrrPE. 163 gunners, sfealtluly paddled down upon them till . '.^ • close 8liootlnn. distinooc .i i • -, *'^^ ''''^^^^^ vers » and tl ° '^' ''''' ^^'^^^ ^>'^'^^^ ^-ii'e termed "PIo- vei., and tlie pm-suit of them plovei-shootuH • • nf wrongfully. ^ ^looting ; of course The last of this fnim'I^r ^^ ^-^ a . ■ tills lamily IS the Semipalmated Tattlor J-otamis Scmhmhnniiio ..^' n , J-cinie], let " fi-n,. ./ f ™"'' ""''■ersally known ,,8 ti.e " Wil- let, fiomits harsh and shrill err, con.h„tI. '1--. the breedin, sea.on, the .t nit " '^T thought to bear son.e resen>b,ance to th", !„, l/ f' " »w.ft, rapid and easy fl,er, and thon,,-, t si, ," ' .-exposed situation, can be ^Jt")^^ l^l.en m good order the flesh of the A7ill f • '' ntahle, although not so greatly el ' ^ -T"" ^"'■ ^vhich really are delicious! '*' '"-°^' l^ext to these come the Godwits two ;„ ^^-wn b, the nnmeanlng title of. rariin""™'^'-' *■ >• ^''-^■Twatchfni;::; t^:^:'"'^"■ '--*in succession inLheflor ' "' """' And the Iludsonian Godwit, TJmn.r, TT 7 ■ «'0"l!ing-tailcd Marlin," is „ s« 1 7'"'' " rariety than the U.t e "'"' ^••'"er excellLe t r It il? '"^'"" '""''"' ""^ "^<'^- Jiesh. It ,s far more commoi, in the Mid- ( i. I I /I- iitrmriiTiM 164 AMERICAN GAME. I! k' !♦ ' die States than in the Eastern districts, and is abundant in the wild and barren lands far to the northward. I have seen it shot, likewise, on the swamps of the A^ix Canards, to which I have already referred. This is the larger of the three birds, lying ni3perraost, in tLe group, at the head of this article; it was sketched from a fine specimen shot on the Delaware in the month of May. It is thus described by Giraud in his excellent work on the Birds of Long Island : "Bill, blackish brown, at base of lower mandible yel- low; upper parts light-brown, marked with dull-brown, and a few snTall, white spots f neck all roimd brownish- gray ; lower parts white, largely marked with ferrugi- nous ; basal part of tail-feathers and a band crossing the rump, white. Adult with the bill slender, blackish- brown toward the tip, lighter at the base, particularly at the base of the lower mandible ; a line of brownish-white from the bill to the eye ; lower eyelid white. Throat white, spotted with rust color; head and neck brownish- gray ; lower parts white, marked with large spots of ferruginous ; under tail-coverts barred Avitli brownish- black and ferruginous ; tail brownish-black cast, a white band at the base ; a band over the rump ; tips of primary coverts and basis of quills white; upper tail-coverts brownish-black, their basis white ; upper parts grayish- brown, scapulars marked with darker spots ; feet bluish. Length fifteen inches and a half, wing eight and a half Among the various families of birds, which are all THE SWIPE. 166 W„ as I have stated, by the general title of Bay ^Smpe, there . but one Snipe proper, and that is one of the .nostnnn^erons, and perhaps the most excellent Of thf " ^"''tT'f «"-P«' ^■'>^''j>a. Wo.eloracen.is- Jaek." ■' "' "^"'"' ""'I-^'" ^^ "J^™- A brace of these excellent and beautiful birds are depicted as thrown carelesslv on fl,„ , , 1 c,, „. ""'^"V ''" t"e ground, under the neckofthcRinL'-tailedMirlin in ti,„ ,• , Ti • 1 • , , , ^'la""! in the preceding sketch. Tins bird has the bill of the true snipe, Seol.,,«. A,ne. ncanns, excepting only that the knob at the tip of the upper mandible of the bill is less distinctly marked. The spring plumage of this bird, in which it is depicted above ,s on the upper parts brownish-black, variegated with clove-brown, and light reddish-brown, the second- aries and wing-coverts tipped and edged with white Ic™-er parts bright orange colored ferruginous, spotted with dusky arrow-headed spots. Tlie abdomen paler. 11.C tail-feathers and upper-tail coverts alternately bar- ml with black and white; the legs and feet dull yellow- isJi green. "At the close of April," says Mr. Giraud, "the Eed- breasted Snipe arrive on the coasts of Long Island. In- T. eo by a bountiful supply of food, at the reflux of the Kle, It resorts to the mud-flats and shoals to partake of the rich supply of shell-fish and insects which nature in her plenitude has provided for it. As the tide advances I ! 1 i 166 AJIERICAN GAME. it retires to the, Log meadows, where it is seen probino- tlie suit ground for worms. In the spring it remains with lis but II short time. Soon after recruiting it obeys the unerring cull of nature, and steers for the north, where it i)assos the season of reproduction. About the middle of July it returns with its young, and continues its visit during September, and if the season be open, lingers about its favorite feeding grounds until the last of the month." The specimens from which the above sketch is taken, were procured on the Delaware so late as the latter part of May ; but it must be remem])ered that this spring, 1S50, was unusually late and backward. This snipe associates in largo flocks, is very easily whistled, flies in dense and compact bodies over the de- coys, and is so gentle that, after half the flock has been cut down by the volleys of the lurking gunner, the re- mainder will frequently alight, and walk about demurely among their dead companions and the illusive decoys, until the pieces are reloaded, and the survivors deci- mated by a fresh discharge. Even when feeding on the open mud-flats, tlie Red- breasted Snipe is so tame as to allow itself to be ap- proached by the sportsman, with little or no address, run- ning about and feeding perfectly unsuspicious, until its enemy has come within short range, Avhen it springs with its tremulous cry only to ])e riddled with the shot of the close discharge. \ THE 8NIPE. icr The other of tlicso birds worthy of tlie most attention are, '-^tiuii Ti.o Smuloriing, aMJru Arcnaria, M-hich, tl.on.I, voiy smiill, is fat a„d cxcollont. TI,o Black-boUiod i%vcr, a.,w^.;«. im,eiiou., l^Hl-he«d<.i,"or"Beotlo.l,eaaccl Plover," a shy Lia, but freciuontly wlustlo.l within gn,„hot. On the coas^ ^t '^ ..l>t to be iishy, but when shot iuhand, and on nph.ad prcstiiros, of 8iii)crior quality. T1.0 American Gohlen Plover, G/,aradnus Mannora- tns, the Irost l.ird;" a very beautiful specie, and of rare excellence when hilled on the npland, where it is fonndmore freanently and more almndnntly than on the shore. "s!en vnf "r* """■'"'' '"""'■'"™ ^o'>0!^osM., b.eUe-bdl," a large, eoarse-llavored bird, easily de- coved. ' -^ ^ T1.0 Ilndsonian Curlew, „,„„.„,•„, //„,;,,„;,, ..lied ( urlew, ' or 'Maol. Curlew." Similar to the lat- ter ,n all respects, although smaller in size And last, the Escpdnaanx Curlew, «.»««« ^«.«;,„, tIol.utes,"the "Doe Eird." This bird feeds prinei! Pallj on the uplands, in company with the ,-olden r'overs, and on the sanre food, .„eU.U, grassh^pers, .nseets, seeds, worms, and berries. Its flesh is dilLat a .d ngh flavored. It breeds far to the north and win. tors far to the south of the United States, residing with us from early i„ Angust until late in November til ! Hm ' *'.! i\ : IJI t i' ^1'! I ! ^tf IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^ I.I IB 1.25 i 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.6 V] VI iS^jiSfc V^^ '^#v <^ °w PhotDgraDbic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 '^iL? MP vV 168 AMEEICAN GAME. I With this bird, altliough there are numerous other smaller species, the list of these tribes may be held complete. From the commencement of the present month until late in the autumn, anywhere along the coasts and bays of the Korthern and Middle States a bag may readily be filled to overflowing with these varieties by the aid of good decoys and skillful whistling, or of a skiff paddled by a cunning fowler ; a gun of 8 to 10 pounds weight, of 12 guage, with two oz. of No. 5 shot, and an equal measure of powder, will do the work. But when the work is done, comparatively the game is worthless, and the sport, as compared with upland shooting, scarcely worth the having. us other be lield itli until and bays jadily be 8 aid of paddled eiglit, of an equal irhen the Jess, and scarcely miw ilHM H or cd THE SALMON. Salmo Solar. This glorious fellow, who is admitted on all hands to be the very king of fishe., as regards personal beauty, strength, agility, and speed, as regards excellence npou the table, and as regards the sport he gives to the vigor- ous and skillM angler, is in this month in his prime of health, vigor, and peifection, in all those waters of tne United States and British Provinces, wherein he still exists. Within the limits of, the former, on tlie Eastern or Atlantic side of the continent, those waters arc confined to a few of the noble and limpid rivers in the State of Maine from the Kennebec, eastward, and to one or two large streams of Northern New York emptyin.. mto the St. Lawrence. In the British Provinces of New Brunswick and Canada East, all the waters, whether emptying into the Bay of Fundy or the Gulf of St Wnce, are literally alive with this noble predatory fish, to such an extent that an accomplished fly-fisher temporarily resident iu the first-named province, "oifer- c(I in 1850 to back himself, for any reasonable amount 8 ?f!i- ' \ I '■ 170 AilEKICAN GAME. I!" of bet, to kill witli his own Land, three hundred salmon in that river" — the Nepisiguit discharging its waters into Bathurst IlarLor — " during the month of July next ensuing." I quote from a letter of my friend Mr. Perley, the able and enterprising author of the " Sea and River I'isheries of Kew Brunswick," who adds, on his own account, " and witli any reasonable luck as to weather, would readily win his bet. He took last season, before breakfast one day seventeen salmon ; and I have heard of thirty being taken in a day by indifferent fishers." Think of this, ye ambitious spirits, who casting deftly the long line and the winged deceit, pride yourselves on basketing your dozen or two of half-pound trout at Bnedecor's or Carman's on the south side ! Tliink of this — thirty salmon in a day with the fly, and that by indifferent fishers ! Of a truth, the Kepisiguit, the Eis- tigouche, and the Miramichi, must be the paradise ter- restrial, or aquatic rather, of the fly-fisher; nor is it so hard a region of, attainment, for from Boston the good steamer Admiral plies w^eekly to the city of St. John, and thence, on aj)plication to the good sportsman whose name I have recorded above, the pilgrim in pursuit of piscatorial glory, shall be right easily, and with a good will, forwarded upon his way. But to return from this brief though not impertinent digression, although the salmon is so well known to all the dwellers of cities on the Atlantic coast as to require no description, yet for the benefit of inland sportsmen, dred salmou ' its waters THE SALMOir. in and those especially, who, residing on the Susquehanna and the southen. rivers generally, fancy that th J possess the sah.on .n the glass-eye, or pike-perch, ' Z glory of the nvers of all northern latitudes, alike on the Atlan^ and Pacific oceans, and on the northern seas ot" The salmon, fresh run from the sea, on his first entrance mto the estuaries of the fresh rivers, „p whi I l^e runs to deposit his spawn-of which mor^ anon-t perhaps the most perfect in shape of all animals, aud the most exqu.s:te model of marine architecture in existence The proportions of one in perfect condition, and a large fish, are thus given by Sir Humphrey Da^y, him! .elf an eminent and eager fly-fisher, as well as a gr^t .atnrahst and philosopher-the length 38J inches^ tie circumference 21 indies, and the weight 22 lbs The head is small and sharpened, the body thence mcreasmg gradually to about two-fifths of its length, at wbch pomt Its girth is the greatest, with lines as sLely and a curvature as evenly and gracefnlly swelling as those of the entrance of the fleetest ship that ever walked tlie waters. Thence aftwarJ, like the run of the same vessel, it tapers far more rapidly and sharply, the naiTowest point being at four-fifths of its wiiole length beyond which its broad, flat, deeply forked tail, Ihe' rudder at once and propeller of this wonderful animated machine, expands to a width all but equal to that of the Im ii f ' ,1 172 AMERICAN GAME. broadest portion of the body. The consequence of this exquisitely beautiful conformation is a combination of vigor, swiftness, and power of resistance to the element in which it exists equal to that of any known animal. Tlie dart of the salmon in pursuit of its prey, or its arrowy rush, on feeling the sting of the barbed hook, is comparable to nothing but the velocity of the swallow in the air. He runs up any rapids, it matters not how swift, or steep, or strong, of the mightiest rivers, witJi scarce an eifort ; he leaps all obstacles, whether of mill- dams or natural water-falls, not exceeding thirteen feet in perpendicular height, as easily as a trained hunter tops a quickset hedge ; and, what is perhaps the most astonishing proof of his wonderful muscular strength, he can retain his station, head on in the teeth of a cur- rent, against which the strongest ^^rimmer would not presume to struggle, motionless for many minutes together, at the end of which a slight and scarcely per- ceptible sweep of the powerful tail gives him, without sending him forward, the power of retaining his position, as before, f^r a similar interval of time. When fresh from the sea, the upper part of his head, and all his body above the lateral line, are of a deep cerulean blue, almost black along the ridge, and mellow- ing downward into lustrous, pearly azure on the sides, the lower parts and belly glitter like burnished silver, and the whole fish appears, when newly taken from the water, to be cased in such silver and enameled mail, as THE SALMON. 173 we read of as worn hv f],^ f..„ • i Az.io3to's poetj ° ""' "' ^^^^"'^ °^ A few irregular black spote scattered along tho back and upper regions of his sides see.u to set r^ by , e eon rast the briUianey of his general coloring. ' Ihe struetnral peculiarities of the salmon, by which 1 c :s d.tn.g.„shed from all other families, arc hfs sh rp s ~ng hooded teeth, and the number and form tin 5 posterior Of the tltinralXlp'nr::: fl I 1 ^ ^ "'^°"' ""*™y «'« I«»ga Of the tt^::r:;ir:ir:Ir^-^'r— -^ W.n is that they ar^^^^^ «y*, as they are called, -in opposition to the sharo .,ul ^orny .^^, ...ch are found more or less num -L; iuwn as tiie Ohio or Susauelianna solmm, but correctly named the pike-perch, or^llow L: 7' salmon I"T "' "^"'"^ "' '"^ '^-' ^''^-f-- ^e a hnon famdy may be readily distinguished from all others ; no other family having the hitder fatty dor!^ % the number of rays in the several fins, the true -l™„, or sea salmon, may be known from the othlL IB 174 AMEEIOAN GAME. of his family, as the salmon-trout, or sen-trout, the spotted, or brook-trout, the several varieties of lake-trout peculiar to the great inland waters of this country, and the many uiher more distantly connected species which it is unnecessary here to enumerate, though it may be well to state that the White lish of the lakes, the Otsego bass, the smelt, and the capelinn, are all of this family. These fin rays in the true salmon are as follows : in the first dorsal, 15— second dorsal, 0— pectorals, each. 14— ventrals, each, 10— anal, 13— caudal fin, or tail, 21. I have been more particular in dwelling on these par- ticulars, because I am well aware that there are many good sportsmen throughout the country in the habit of miscalling many fishes, from ignorance of the true dis tinctive marks, who will gladly receive information which, as a general rule, can only be obtained from costly scientific works, out of the reach of the mass of men, and entirely unattainable in remote inland districts. A little attention to these distinctions would soon put an end to all the confusion now arising from the application of the same names to entirely difierent fishes in difierent sections of the country ; even as a little attention to the habits and seasons of the finny, no less than of the feathery and fur-clad tribes, would tend at least to pre- vent their indiscriminate and cruel destruction at seasons when they are busy in the work of reproduction, and when, as it would seem by a special dispensation of Providence, they are unfit for the food of man. THE SALMON. 175 Tlio salmon, properly speaking, is neither a salt-water nor a fj-esli-water Hsli ; a cliango from one to the other, at (lilferent seasons of the year, being in his natural 6tnto necessary to his existence, and in luiy state to his greatest perfection. The salt water and the food which they therein obtain, the spawn, namely, and eggs of crabs, and other crustaceous fishes, are necessary to him for the recruiting and reinvigorating his system after tho exhaiLstion consequent on spawning; and to these he is supposed to owe his great and rapid growth, the deep ruddy color, and the exquisite flavor of his flesh. The fresh water of clear, cold spring-fed rivers ia necessary to him for the reproduction of his species, aa it is now a proved and recognized fact, that the spawn, or eggs, of the salmon cannot be hatched or brought to life except in the highly aerated waters of clear, quick- rmining, shallow, fresh streams. If the upper parts of all the rivers in the world could be closed against the salmon, as in most of our own rivers they are by dams and weirs, the salmon would cease to exist at all, as they have ceased to exist in those rivers whence they are now excluded, b.ut wherein they once abounded, as the Delaware, the Hudson, and the Connecticut, and thousands of others, even to the outlets of the small lakes of central New York, where they were once common. In July the salmon begin freely to enter the estuaries of the breeding rivers, and after remaining for some si -,n fiM \ir, 170 AMEKICAN GAME. !l; weeks abont the point where the tide turns, and salt and fresh water alternates, as if to aceliniate themselves to the ehango of temperature, proeucd up to the very head- waters of the -streams they frequent, and there, in the gravelly bottoms of the shallow rivulets, deposit their eggs, to bo matured and ripened by the effects of the air and sunshine. Tlienco they descend to the sea again, to recover health and vigor for the ensuing season, but on their descent they would not be recognized for the same fish which ascended in the previous autumn, as they are now lean, fiat-sided, big-headed — owing to the diminu- tion of the body— dingy-colored, and utterly unfit for food. A male salmon, which from his length, should have weighed 11 lbs., in condition, being killed in this state, was found to weigh 4^ lbs. Yet in this miserable and useless state, as well as on the very spawning beds, when in the actual performance of their natural and paternal duties, this noble fish is ruthlessly and wantonly massacred to the gradual annihilation of the species, and to the extinction not only of an admirable and athletic spoi-t, but of a considerable source of national wealth, and a valuable branch of domestic and foreign trade. Now it is by no means necessary, either to abstain from taking salmon, in almost unlimited quantities at the proper season, that is to say, while they are running up the rivers in summer and early autumn, provided only that the whole channel is not obstructed by stake- THE SALMON. 177 M not8, or to abolish mm-Uams in Wo, in order t , , noble fab ,n th„ waters wbence it is .0 r„„id.yl " poarmg. Only abstain from kiili„. it „„ ,„! ^" bods vi-I,n„ if • • ., '»"""o It on the spawn ng. otcto, when ,t ,s ,n tl.o act of roprodueiue its ki„,I when it is retin'ni.,,, t„ *i ^ ""'' •"■ unfit for f y ' """' "^""'y "'"» ^^«»k, and unht fo. ood-only eompel, by strictly enforced law every ,„dl dam owner to attach to his. weir otJZl apron, or sloping descent, of an angle not excee- ris " twelve feet .„ width, over which the water shall I ' ::iz "■ ""^ ^°" "^^"" -' "- «"-" .": i.: be found m as great abnnuance as ever i„ „l *, waters fro. which he has .ot as yet wll; Lap U':; I-en ,u those where^.e is now extinct I believe d.att could be reproduced by the importation fsL^J; and at reproduced, of course, preserved to any e Itv he enlorccnent of proper laws. While on tL let woud state, that greatly to the credit of the supe ! orso that county, an act has been passed contain ^ a the provisions above mentioned, with regard to the Salmon E.ver, in Oswego county, I believe, in the Stat of New York ; and I trust that the example thus set win be followed, with reference to the oLe.o self and the Seneca, Cayuga, and 8kaneate.es out; n iea t of the Empire State, and instead of depending on New Tork would ere long be enabled to supply her 178 AMEKICAN GAME. sister cities on tlie seaboard with tliis higli-priced and favorite dainty. It is singular that in tlie United States, where so much attention is given to every other form of industry, every other source of na+ional wealth, so little has been paid to that very valuable resource, the sea and river fisheries.- Eut now to turn from the fish to the fishing. Tliis sport is attainable on all salmon rivers above tide-water or at about the meeting of the fresh and salt, by the sportsman, during the whole of the month of July and of August, and on some waters in the earlier part of Sep- tember. There are but two ways of taking the salmon with the hook usually practiced, by sporting fishermen, and one of these even rarely as compared with the other —the best, most scientific, most orthodox, and most suc- cessful, is casting with the artificial fly ; the second, wliich will often kill good fish when the water is too foul, after heavy rains or freshets, to allow their rising to the fly, and at the meeting of the salt and fresh, is spin- ning or trolling with the minnow, the young trout in its parr state, the smelt, or the sand launce, occasionally in deep, still pools, the salmon will take a hook heavily shotted, and baited with two large dew-worms; and always and infallibly it will greedily seize one baited with its own roe potted and preserved with salt. The former of these methods is, however, slow, uncei- tain, tedious, and inferior both as to sport and success to any of the rest. The latter is so deadly and unerring THE SALMOiS-. ^^^ neither wL "' '^'^"'"S' P^'«=''<='='1 «'<'™fore tuietood of tlie salmon; for so rapid is their digestion ;: -'- talcen their stomachs are always foun^C!' w h the exception of asm„H quantity of' ellowish 2-' but It would seem quite certain that while in fresh wntl' f 7' -"-' P^^-^P«%, if not entir,!,, ofttuflt ^lut a?;:;? ^r ''^^' ^'^"'^ --^ ^^^^ witet't; trout and oi tliemselves also when in thpiV ^r.f . . : J '-^ ^^^ -' water, ^Z^^^^: notice on their return to the rivei-s ""^^'Cend to -I'flil'tttvfr *^ '"^="^ Saud, artificial sal. since there is nothing- under ^ njeeture , lothing heaven to which they bear b i :lfi If mt 180 AMERICAN GAME. n* even a distant resemblance. Sir Humphry Davy conjec- tures tliat they may be actuated by a vaguo local recol- lection, on returning", as they always do, to the identical rivers in which they were bred, from the sea, where they have been feeding on a totally different prey, of the water-flies which in their childhood they were used to take on the surface, and therefore looking to the sur- face for their food, strike at the first thing they see bear- ing a remote resemblance to a winged insect. The implements necessary to the salmon fly-fisher are a powerful two-handed rod, of sixteen to eighteen feet in length, composed of ash, hickory and lancewood, or spliced bamboo, with a solid butt fitted with a spike- whereby to fix it in the ground erect while changing your flies or the like— a large click reel, on no account a multiplier, a hundred yards of hair line, a casting line of the stoutest, roundest and most even salmon gut, and a book of salmon-flies— the numbers, colors and varieties of which are endless. As good as any, to my mind, is the peacock upper and blue-jay under wings, gay silk body, red hackle legs, and bird of Paradise tail ; but the truth is, that almost anything large and gaudy will take salmon, if deftly and skillfully dropped at the exact time, and in the exact place. If they will not take one they will another, and the which is which must be discovered by experiment. The brighter and stiller the water, the smaller and THE SALMON. 181 more grave colored should be the fly, as a general rule. Where the river is foul, or the current much broi.en foamy and rapid, the % can hardly be too large, or too gaily colored. Jor the rest, no writing can teach a man how to throw a fly, how to strike a flsh when he has risen, or how to kill when he has struck him ; practice, patience, perse- verance, and coolness are the great requisites, and the best way of learning is to accompany a good fly-fisher to flie brook-side, to observe and study his motions, and by example more than by oral instruction to acquire his method, and by degrees approach his skill. Isui^pose hardly any one would attempt to use the double-handed rod, or attempt salmon, who had not first learned to throw a cast of flies from the light rod and succeeded in hooking a trout. I will therefore merely observe, for the benefit of the trout fisher who makes his first essay on salmon, that it is not advisable, as in trout fishing, to keep the fly dancing as it were and hov- ermg on the surface, but to let it sink a little way pull It back with a slight jerk not quite out of water, and then let it sink again, and so on until your cast is finish- ed, and you lift your fly for another. Agam, when a salmon has risen at your fly, you need not strike near so quickly, and you must strike much more strongly and sharply than at a trout. Colquhomi, in his capital book, " Tlie Moor and the Loch," recommends that the sal- mon be allov^ed to turn before striking him, and I I ! i:i m t '• i ii m 182 AAIERICAN GAME. think tlic advice sound and good. When ho is struck you must make him figlit for every inch of line you give him, holding him very hard, but of course giving rather than letting liim break you, until he becomes exhausted ; if he plunges to the bottom and sulks, you must arouse him by stirring the water with a pole or pelting him with pebbles, for your " only chance of killing him de- pends," to borrow the words of Davy's Salmonia, " on his being kept constantly in action, so that he may ex- haust himself by exercise." When he is wearied out, when he turns up his broad, bright side exhausted on the surface, let your assistant pass the sharp, hooked gaff carefully under him, and strike it home by one cool, steady, upward jerk, and he is yours. Myself, I prefer to gaff in the solid muscular tail, behind the ventral cavity, as affording the best hold ; but many good sportsmen prefer to strike in the shoulder, as giving more command of the fish— so that he i; gaffed, however, it matters not much where, for he it pretty certainly ashore a moment afterward. I may as well here mention that while on a visit in Troy recently, I was shown a new spring or click gaff, which must unquestionably supersede the old hook. It is easy of management, unerring, and can be handled with success by ihe most awkward country lad, and every sportsman knows how often lie is annoyed by the clum- siness of an assistant who merely grazes a beaten fish, an^ goads him into fresh fury, perhaps causing his event- TUB SALMON. 183 ual loss and eliciting „a„ghty words from the not then gentle hsherman. And now, kind reader mine, I have told you whither 0 pass ,n pursuit of your sport ; I have told you, so far as tell I can, how to rise, how to strike, how to kill, how to land your fish. ' i\ow I will tell you how to cook hinx-eat him, 1 doubt not, you can without my teaching. As soon as he is out of water^stun him with a heavy bow on the head; then with a sharp knife crimp him^ that IS, gash lum to the bone on both sides with a num- ber ot parallel transvere cuts, parallel to the line of the gil s, at about two inches asunder ; hold him up by the tad and let him bleed; cool him for ten minutes in the coldest spring or running water you can find at hand • carry h„„ to tlie pot in which your salt and water- nearly strong enough to bear an egg-must be boiling bke mad ; in with him, and let him boil ^nantun. su}. Then serve him up, with no sauce save a few spoonsM of the water in which he was cooked, and if you please, the squeeze of a lemon, or, better yet, a lime-but, " an you love me, Hal," eschew the lobster sauce, and the nch condiments, as Reading, Worcestershire or Soy for he IS rich enough without, and they will but kill his natural flavor, . -id undo his delicacy. And so adieu, and good Inck to you ! Take my ad- vice, and when night comcth you may boast that yon have fislied well, and dined supremely. m f. .1 n V 184 AMERICAN GAME. I^may here add, for the information of whom it may concern, that my friend. Captain Peel, better known as Dinks, a famous sportsman and sahnon fisher, has hired the exclusive fishing of one of the finest salmon rivers in Canada West, on which a good fisherman may bag from six to twenty well-fed fish per diem. The river affords admirable fishing for six or seven rod, is carefully pre- served by Captain Peel, who keeps a regular game- keeper on it ; and is easily accessible from Quebec. Captain Peel makes up a party to go thither and fish annually, furnishing all appliances and means to boot, lodging, after forest fashion, in comfortable shanties; board of the best that can be obtained, including excellent port, sherry, and bottled ale ; boats, men, everything in short, rods only excepted, that is requisite to the genu- ine sportsman, at the very small price of $120 per month. The scenery of the Lower St. Lawrence is magnificent, the climate delicious, the fishing tli.e finest in the world. The expense is ridiculously cheap as compared with the inducements offered, nor can I imagine a more delightful or cheaper mode of passing a couple of summer months than any sportsman can obtain by addressing Captain Peel, Amherstburg, Canada West. ^t %mmm Wimkotl Scolopax Minor. THE BLIND SKIPEj MUD smVE, &c. DURING THE SUMMER-CANADA TO VIRGINIA ' DURING THE WINTER-SOUTHERN STATES TO MEXICO f ¥ .3 ii i s ■I M .1! f It m I ii'i if I m- ■? kit Ill ;1 1 1 f 1 ill -99 f ^^^^^H If 1 a « THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. Scolojpax Minor. TuE American Woodcock, Scohpa^ ,ninor or a« it «'-en inches i; ext 1 1: 1 rro;" r^'^'''' ^^ «-in.3; Whereas the European cL^ t't^^rf' ounces, being often fonnd „n to .T ^''^'^ ^""^^ '«'^'™ twe„ty.fi.eortwent,-si.i„chTs ' "" "^""'^^ * s eirrr r "'"■• "^^^ "-^ ^ --^''- ^"el^with wav, bj;rra' ^^br *""^^^^ ■"ottled in places with bnVhtl , " ^™'""'' "utthe breast .JSiXyTlT"^ '^'"^™^' deep fulvous velW 7^ '"'"'^° '''^<' «^« "f a P "Ivous yellow, darkest on upper part and fading to ! ! 188 AMERICAN GAME. f »5 ' a yellowish white at the vent, while its European congener has all the lower parts of a dull cream color, barred with faint dusky -waved lines, like the breast feathers of some of the falcons. It has generally been believed that the largo cock of the Eastern continent is never found in America ; and all analogy would go to strengthen that belief, for neither of the birds range on their respective continents voi-y far to the northward, whereas it is those species only which extend into the Arctic regions, and by no means all of them, that are common to the two hemispheres. Some circumstances have, however, come recently to my know- ledge which lead me to doubt whether the large woodcock of the Eastern hemisphere does not occasionally find its way to this continent, although it is difiicult to conceive how it should do so, since it must necessarily wing its way across the whole width of the Atlantic, from the shores of Ireland or the Azores, which are, so ftir as is ascertained, its extreme western limit. A very good English sportsman resident in Philadel- phia, who is perfectly ftimiliar with both the species and their distinctions, assures me thaL during the past winter a friend brought for his inspecti^-ji aii undoubted ii^nglish woodcock, which he had purchased in the market ; it weighed twelve ounces, measured twenty-five inches from wing to wing, and had the cream-colored barred breasfc which I have described. The keeper of the stall at which this bird was purchased did not know where it TIIE AMEKIOAN WOODOOOK. IgO Imd boon k!IIo,l, but averred that eoveral birds ],„d pro- vu.u«ly been in l,i„ possession, prcei.oly similar to thia m every respect. It is not a little remarkable that the 8.an>e Kcntle.nnn who saw this bird, and unhesitat Iv pronounced it an European cock, was informed by a eportiug friend that ho had seen in Susqu.ehanna county a coek, which ho was satisfied must have measured twenty-five inches in extent, but which he unfortunately • m,ssed. TI.cre is likewise, at this time, in the city a skull and bill of a woodcock of very unusual di.nensions, of whieh I am promised a sight, and which, from the description, I am well nigh convinced is of the European species. It is possible that these birds may have been brought over and kept in confinement, and subsequently escaped and so become naturalized in America ; and yet it is difficult to conceive that persons should have taken the trouble of preserving so stupid and uninteresting a bird as the woodcock in a cage, unless for the purpose of transporting them from one country to another in order to the introduction of new species. This might be done very easily with regard to some species, and with undoubted success ; and it has ^reatly surprised me that it has never been attempted with regard to our American woodcock, which might unques- tionably be naturalized in England with the greatest facility ; where it would, I have no doubt, multiply extraordinarily, and become one of the most numerous i.i.f 190 AMERICAN GAME. and valuable species of game, as the mildness of the winters in ordinary seasons would permit the bird t . remain perennially in the island, without resorting to migration in order to obtain food. The woodcock and snipe can both be very readily domesticated,, and can easily be induced to feed on bread and milk reduced to the consistency of pulp, of which they ultimately become extremely fond. This is done at first by throwing a few small red worms into the bread and milk, for which the birds bore and bill, as if it were in their natural muddy soil. In all countries in which any species of the woodcock is found, it is a bird essentially of moderate climates, abhorring and shunning all extremes of temperature, whether of heat or of cold. With us, it winters in the Southern States from Vir- ginia, in parts of which, I believe, it is found at all sea- sons of the year, through the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida to Louisiana and Mississippi, in the almost impenetrable cane-brakes anc' deep morasses of which it finds a secure retreat and abundance of its favorite food during the inclement season, which binds up every stream and boggy swamp of the Middle and Kew England States in icy fetters. So soon, however, as the first indications of spring commence, in those regions of almost tropical heat, the woodcock wings its way with the unerring certainty of instinct which guides him back, as surely as the magnet THE AMEEICiiN WOODCOCK. ^q^ t'.e duties oZJi^^' ^™^ '^"''^'' -^ -n-ences M do .0 .itW Is i?t eW r ^ '' ""*' amval, sometimes even before th. .„ / "^ t^e upUnd. Sometimes tji; Z Z^H '™'" ea% as February, but Marehald L be '^" April are their more general season t ^"""^ "' inartificially made of .1 "' ""'' '' ''"'y Tl,„ f„ , , ^^ ''"'^'=' ""'J stalks of <^aes The iemale lays from four to live eg™ abo„t ! T flnrl .1 hn^f 1 1 *^6g«) aoout art mch and a half long, by an inch in diameter of . ^ n i speisea with splashes of faint purnlp Tf • «ul whether the woodcock d'oe^ ' do^s not'^rer second brood of young, unless the fct hatu" ' ■ destroyed, as is very frequently the case bv floods, which are very fata^ to thlm J m; cLTh"' do unquestionably breed a second tim fo Ih! ' ^.se.foun,theyoungbirds,sk„,kingab;uX^^^^^^^ "or bl r- rf """' ""'""^'^ *» ^^' --J covered wi it Z-T "™' *'" '"°^' ™-"''^ »ere it i'-asthettfX':n:::c''~-"-^ ware the exception is rend!, , ^^'" ^" ^'^^- p-ittin, e4 pert ::c^ :^ ^ «- whether i„ or out of season T ^"""*' t'^e birds are all l.nedoi?C;Cr~'''^'''^'' it may now be set clown nlmocf tl.e Atlantic seaboard coin tic ^ ' "f ' *'"''* '" »" in the vicinity of tlie ,"''"''' '^«''y ^J'^'-^ ^ares, the ^:j'i^::i:;2-''''' r-'-^'- bofore the end of July, wi h th e ^." ''"''"' "* scattered stragglers whM.T '"'^''°" ^'^ » ''«^ impenetrable br 2 T „ "" ''''^^•'' ^ "^""' '° ^"-"^ ioot of the po sZ . ZT'"'"" "''^'' '^^^^ '"^ t>.at the dnnhL cT::; t) ■ !""'- *" -"". and autumn shootin.-^roul ''' """' ^""^ °" »»r «-orthernan;c::;;/C;sthLr"-'^'^- *%wi„;their;;t:r:s::te'ir or «.e cane-brakes of the Mississippi ™""^"' it my method could bo wn,.v.,ii , !"^ '^'-'-th da, of 8epteX Sti: r: ; "' '"""'" >^ passed, and when the birds „.!,'"=" '''^°" congregate on their fayor ite f • °™"'"^ '^'''' *» eon^mencementofev-et ,?i ;"^'r™'^' "'^ «'« ^everysoit of upland shooting, with- I f ( ' t" j 1. 1 ^Ff T I • 194 AMERICAN QxME. m i out any exception, the sport would be enormous J the birds at that season are in full vigor, in complete plu- mage, in the perfection of condition for the table, and are so strong on the wing, so active and so swift, that no one could for a moment imagine them to be the same with the miserable, puny, half-fledged younglings, which any bungling boy can butcher as he pleases, with the most miserable apparatus, and without almost as well as with a dog, during the dog-days of July. The weatlier is, moreover, cool and pleasant, and in every way well-suited to the sport at this season ; dogs have a chance to do their work handsomely and well, and the sportsman can do liis work, too, as he ought to do it, like a man, walking at liis proper rate, immolested by mosquitoes, and without feeling the salt perspiration streaming into his eyes, until he can hardly brook the pain. But no such ho23e existing as that state legislatures, dependent, not on rational but on brute opinion, should condescend to hear or listen to common sense, on matters such as game laws, are we, or are we not, to abandon our plan, to sacrifice our knowledge aiul enlightened views on this suliject to obstinate ignorance ; or shall we not take the better part, and decide, accord- ing to Minerva's lesson in Tennyson's magnificent . . . For that right is right to follow right Where wisdom is the scoru of consequence. rnous ; the iplete plu- table, and ift, that no the same ngs, which !, with the as well as ,nt, and in ison ; dogs ■ and well, e ought to mmolested erspiration brook the Bgielatures, ion, should sense, on we not, to dedge and ignorance ; de, accord- nagniticent THE AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 195 We Shall resist and persist ; at least I shalW 1... v Jorester, .,o .ever in n.y life have Hlled , Ird' o^t ot season intentionally, and who never will'ho : polled by sham sportsmen, cockney anj . """ shoot woodcock in Julv who if P^^'g^nners to out and over a Jn to I T '''" '^"'*^^' '^'^ en ; ;:„f -T '? "'^' *"»' *^- -7 be sens enongh af „ot mtegnty, among the legislatures of the ee states, to prevent the destrnction oAu game ^ their several jurisdictions. As the thing stands-and by the thing I mean the law -^oodcock are to be shot on or about the first day oT J%; and if, dear reader, you try to shoot any I I - h.n fltty miles of Kew Yort, or twenty-iive of Phi o th„ c that you will find wonderfully little sport- ore he season, do not fire a shot, if yo^ .„, J, ;; ajMce If poaehers will violate the law, and the law wiU not enforce itself against poachers, abstain from becom- mg a poacher yourself, and do not shoot before the season fairly commences. " At tliis period of the year woodcock are almost inva- mbly found m the lowlands ; sometimes, as, for instance, at fealem, m New Jersey, and many other similar locali- '<^,i t ;l /; 196 AMEEICAN GAME. I I il .;j t I ties along the low and level shores of the Delaware, in the wide, open meadows, where there is not a bush or brake to be seen for miles ; but more generally in low, swampy woods, particularly in maple woods, which have an undergrowth of alder ; along the margin of oozy streamlets, creeping through moist meadows, among willow thickets ; and in wet pastures trampled by cattle, and set here and there with little brakes, which afford them shade and shelter during the heat of the day. Of the latter description is the ground, once so famous for its summer cock-shooting, known as " the drowned lands," in Orange County, New York, extending for miles and miles along the margins of the Wallkill and its tributaries, the Black Creek, the Quaker Creek, and the beautiful Wawayanda. Many a day of glorious sport have I had on those sweet level meadows, enjoyed with friends long since dispersed and scattered, some dead, imtimely, some in far distant lands, some false- and some forgetful, and thou, true-hearted, honest, merry- brave, Tom Draw ; thou whilom king of hosts and emperor of sportsmen, thou, saddest fate of all, smitten, or ere thy prime was passed away, by tlie most fearful visitation that awaits mankind — the awful doom of blindness ! never again shall I draw trigger on those once loved levels — the railroad now thunders and whistles close beside them, and every man and boy and fool, now sports his fowling-piece ; and not a woodcock on the meadows but, after running the gauntlet of a iwi THE AMKEICAN WOODCOCK. ^gf^ mercliant-princes : and if .> ' ^'"^'^ leas, for pWaMeo..;;™^^^^^^^^^ twng. that L:t„-o:rTt, '^ ^^ '"-"-^ *"« never to be relmued Tn7 ''' """* ''"^^ ^"^t' glorv of ''tlTw ^ t "'""'''"* •=*'°*"'y ; ''""the In Conn ! r" ^^»'"^''>»''«" l"»s departed. — re:2:;;r.\r;:L:"^-^---d ..ii; W ;„^^^^^^^^ «-««Wl..in, and tWr J' lyei s , but the si^ortsman, who really thirst, fn. il^orir^irtf^-'r'"^^*-^^'---^^^^ hissin. Tn ™°"''"'''' ^'>"^« l-^^aa is the .»™>g s team, and away, fleeter even than the wings of ^aU St. Cla.r; and there he may shoot coek till his gun-barrels are red-hot nnri 1,- i .. 1-^^11118 slaughter. ' ' '"'"'' '^ ''"''"« "^ "^i^d- It ia «sual at this season to shoot coek over pointer or l< . I II 'i !] aw 198 AMERICAN GAME. setters, according to individual preference of this or that race of dogs; for myself, of the two, I prefer the setter, as in cock-shooting there is always abundance of water to be had, and this rough- coated, high-strung dog can face brakes and penetrate coverts, which play the mischief with the smooth satiny skin of the high blooded pointer. In truth, however, neither of these, but the short- legged, bony, red and white cocking-spaniel, is the true dog over which to shoot summer woodcock ; and no one, I will answer for it, who has ever hunted a good cry of these, will ever again resort either to setter or pointer for this, to them, inappropriate service. The true place for these dogs is the open j^lain, the golden stubble, the wide-stretching prairie, the highland moor, where they can find full scope for their heady courage, their wonderful fleetness, their unwearied industry, and display their miracles of staunchness, steadiness, and nose. In order to hunt these dogs on cock, you must unteach them some of their noblest faculties, you must tame down their spirits, shackle their fiery speed, reduce them, in fact, to the functions of the spaniel, which is much what it would be to train a battle charger to bear a pack-saddle, or manage an Eclipse into a lady's ambling palfrey. The cocking-spaniel, on the contrary, is here in his very vocation. Ever industrious, ever busy, never rang- THE AMItKIOAN WOODCOCK. Ifig i»g above twenty paces from his ,„astor, bustling round every stum,,, prying into every fern-bush, worming ^ long stout body, propped on its short, bony )e Jil tl. densest and most matted cover, no'coc/cant;;: See I one of them has struck a trail ; howhe flourishes 1"« Btump of a tail. I^ow he snufls the tainted groTnd cmtam he pauses for a moment, looks back to see if - master :s at hand; "Yaff. yaff." the brakes Ig ™th h.s me„.y clamor, hi, comrade rushes to his aid liio hghtnmg, yet pauses ever, obedient to the whistle «or presses the game too rashly, so that it rise out of' d.stance. Up steps the master, with his thumb upon the dexter hammer, and his tbre-iinger on the trigger guard Now t lev are cloae r,n^„ tu^ oi'-iiu. jaff FUp flap! „p «pri„g, y,^ ^^^^_ ^.^^ ^ ^^^^^^ whistle, on a soaring wing. Flip flap I again-there are a couple Deliberately prompt, up Joes L fatal ZZ even as the butt presses the shoulder, trigger is drawn a er tngger. Bang! bang! the eye of faith and the ft .gei of instmct have done their work, duly, trulv The thud of one bird, as he strikes the m'oists^iS ba he has fallen ; the long stream of feathers floating the st.ll a.r through yonder open glade, announce! the fate of the second; and, before the butt of the gvm dropped to load, has touched the ground, without a word or question, down charged at the report, the busy little 1 > Hi'l !i • 200 AMEEICAN GAME. babblers are couched silent in the soft, succulent young grass. Loaded once more, " ilie ! fetch !" and what a race of emulation— mouthing tlieir birds gently, yet rapturously, to inhale best the delicate aroma, not biting them, each cocker has brought in his bird, and they and you, gentle reader, if you be the happy sportsman who possesses such a brace of beauties, are rewarded ade- quately and enough. For the rest, a sliort, wide-bored, double-barrel, au ounce of No. 8 shot, and an equal measure of Brough's diamond-grain, will do the business of friend microjdcra, as effectually, at this season, as a huge, long, old-fashion- ed nine-pounder, with its two ounce charge ; and it will give you this advantage, that it shall weigh less by three pounds, and enable you to dispense with a superfluous weight of shot, which on a hot July day, especially if you be at all inclined to what our friend Willis calls jpinguitude, will of a necessity produce much exudation, and some lassitude. snt young d what a mi\y, yet ;iot bitiiiir they and man wlio •ded ade- arrcl, au Brough's 'cwj)tera, l-fasliion- d it will by three perfluon3 !cially if lis calls udation. YIII AUGUST. % Wai ^nck ; ,r Siinnw •dnas, sivo Dendn onessa Spmiaa. ^Utl, WIE UNITED STATES; CANADA To MEXICO. Cervm Virginianua. — .CO.T.E.T-.EW.„ICK,o.^,CO. \ i! i \\ ^l\ i'kii i '«f ^ I 1 THE SUMMER DUCK, OR WOOD DUCK. . . ^nas jSponsa. i'u.^k tribe, IS peculiar to the continent and isles of- America, being familiarly tnown through a W e'e ' portion of the tJnited States, and according JwZl common m Mexico and the West India LandT I' Florida It IS .ery abundant, as it is, more or less on all the fresh waters so far north as the 'interior 0 211 of KewYorlc; i„ the colder regions, to thenorleil ward, aough not unknown, it is of less frequent oecur- lence than m more genial climates ^ u" J^uh^lce, fresh water and sea ducks, more or less a bird ot passage, retiring to the fastnesses of the exti-em nor I forthepui-posesof nidification, and rearing its young but wber it abounds, is a permanent dti.en of tS^ laiKl, raising its family i„ ehe very place where itsel w bom, and not generally, if „„distnrb„d • .• 7 ""} i^o- r iiig vary far I h lil am ? t 201 AMEEICAN GAME. from its native liaiints. I think, however, that ia the United States it is perhaps better known under its other appellation of Wood Duck ; and I am not prepared to say, although the former is the specific name adopted by all naturalists, that the latter is not the better, as the more distinctive title, and applying to a more remarka- ble peculiarity of the bird. For it, alone, so far as I know, of the Duck family, is in the habit of perching and roosting on the upper branches of tall trees, near water-courses, and of making its nest in the holes and hollows of old trunks, overhanging sequestered streams or woodland pools, often at a great height above the sur- face of the water. The Summer Duck is the most gayly attired of the whole family; it has, moreover, a form of very unusual elegance, as compared with other ducks ; and a facility of flight, and a command of itself on the wijng, mostun- like to the ponderous, angular flapping of the rest of its tribe, wheeling with a rapidity and power of pinion, ap- proaching in some degree to that of the swallow, in and out among the branches of the gnarled and tortuous pin- oaks, whose shelter it especially aflfects. From two very fine specimens, male and female, now before me, I take the following description .' Drake, in full summer plumage. Length from tip of bill to tip of tail, 21 inches. Length of wing, 9 inches Bill, 1 1-5 inch. Tarsus, 11. Middle toe, 2 inches. Body long, delicately shaped, rounded. Head small, finely f' THE SUMMER DfJOK. «^^ crested ; neck rather long and slender V , golden-yellow irides. CsandZ ^^"f =''' ^'* d-ky, claws black. PI 21! soft „ '"^'1'°"' "^"^ Bill orange-red at the . ^' f"**' "°'"P'-''«^«1. Wen■- ^^^^ '7ingin different S: It Tlr """="""«' ^■^- t«es of dark bine £l '"""'^-S'-^^". «'~"gh all amethyst reilection; te Ik T ' :"" ""^ ^"'^ «er of the npper nrandiw! " ""* "PP*"' "»- abore the eye rls bf I ' ""™^' """-"'""= ^'''^ak "PPer crest'^ 7 L^^ ; ^^''^^f ~at, Into the backward below the eye and f '•™' ^"'''"^^ - the lower part fT^lcresPr^^^'^* *'''*' snow-white, witl> a sort IZ\ , '"'' '^''^ t'^™"' tending „p;ard a li^ pL^t ™ "'^ "^'^^" ^- -ehing it, the lower alLsf ; :,•': T' ^"t"'"'^ narrowest part. The lower necl „f„ T '' ''' of the ricliest vinons red i„t , ^^'' '"■''■'*' "« a—eadedspotTo tr:;rT'T^"''^"^»" « With paler .inoL J r;,ly';rw r T" it::t:kt?i-"'-^^'^'-«« .■ossed With fnii ctrtf '::^ ''-'' «^'- PJe. Wing-coverts and prila." b»"''T ""' ^"^- blue and .jreen n„f P """""s brown, glossed with green, outer webs of the primaries silvery ' ti .re; iMl 206 AMERICAN GAME. ift'!' wliite ; secondaries glossy blue-black. A broad crescent- shaped band of pure white in front of the wings, at the edge of the red breast-feathers, and behind this a broader margin of jet black. The sides of the body rich greenish yellow, most delicately penciled with nar- row close w^aved lines of gray. On the flanks six dis- tinct semi-lunated bands of white, anteriorly bordered with broad black origins, and tipped with black. The vent tawny white, the rump and under tail-coverts dark reddish purple. The duck is smaller and duller in her general coloring, but still bears suflicient resemblance to the splendid drake to cause her at once to be recognized, by any moderately observant eye, as his mate. Her bill is blackish brown, the irides of her eyeshazoi brown, her feet dull dusky green. Crown of her head and hind neck dusky, faintly glossed with green, and with the rudiments of a crest ; cheeks dusky brown. A white circle round the eye and longitudinal spot behind it. Chin and throat dingy white. Shoulders, back, scapulars, wing-coverts, rump and tail brown, more or less glossed with green, purple and dark crimson. Pri- maries black, with reflections of deep cerulean blue and violet; outer webs silvery white. Secondaries violet- blue and deep green, with black edges and abroad white margin, forming the speculum or beauty spot. Upper fore neck, breast, sides and flanks deep chestnut-brown, spotted in irregular lines with oval marks of faint tawny THE SUMMER DUCK. 207 .The Summer Duct breeds, in New York and Kew J -ey, according to the season, from early in AprU nltU ate m May ; in Jnly the yonng birds are not much 2te n™e to the parents, though not yet very stron^^ he ^ng. I well remember on one occasion, durinjr the Bocond week of that month, i„ the year 183 , while on woodcock shooting near TTarwick.'in Oran;e c " ^^ Toric, w:th a steady brace of setters, how so^' Wawayanda, haJed me, and, pointing to a patch of per .et^;:i^n,:;;::-^,^-;^^,'".^ogsto with finger on theT^ ^ ^"^'' *''" "'^"'^o^' very wilfbn^ tl ' ^^"' "^''""^ '^'^ '''''^^ '» "«« J wild , but to my great snrprise reached the end of Zr"^ the rivulet's margin, without movinra:; ^oU up, I soon got si. de V ^^^:7rZ w^o.som^t.nbIe kicked up the birdj so CdS tfley lay. It was a calm, bright summer's day not a duck rose above ten feet from me.andlbagged themL They proved to be the old duck and five y^Lg b^l o^ 208 AMERICAN GAME. tliat season, but in size tlie latter were quite equal to the mother bird. I consider the Summer Duck at all times rather a less shy bird than its congeners, tJiough it may that it is ow- ing to the woody covert wlich, unlike others of its tribe, it delights to freqcr " .nd which perhaps acts in some degree as a screen to its pursuer ; but except on one other occasion I never saw any thing like the tameness of that brood. The other instance occurred nearly in the same place, and in the same month, I think, of the ensuing year. I was again out summer cock shooting, and was crossing a small, sluggish brook, of some twelve or fourteen feet over, with my gun under my arm, on a pile of old rails, which had been thrown into the channel by the hay- makers, to make an extemporaneous bridge for the hay teams; when on a sudden, to my very great wonder- ment, and I must admit to my very considerable fluster- ation likewise, almost to the point of tumbling me into the mud, oat got a couple of Wood Ducks from the rails, literally under my feet, with a prodigious bustle of wings and quacking. If I had not so nearly tumbled into the stream, ten to one I should have shot too quickly and missed them both ; but the little effort to recover my footing gave me time to get cool again, and I bagged them both. One was again the old duck, the other a young drake of that season. In the spring, the old duck selects her place in some TnE StTMMEE DFOT. 209 sn„g, unsuspicious looking hole in some, old tree near the water edge, where, if unmolested, she will Lreed many years in suceession, earrying down her yo„„. wlien ready to fly, in her hill, and plaeing them in the water The drake is very attentive to the°temale "l-ll sl.e*.Iay„,g,andyet more so while she is engaged in Je duties ot ineuhation; constantly wheeling ahout on tie wrng among the branches, near the nest on which she IS sitting, and greeting her with a little undertoned — r of affection, or perching on a hough of the same tiee, as if to keep watch over her. The following account of their habits is so true and the anecdote illustrating them so pretty and plea'si'ng, hat I cannot refrain from quoting it, for the benefit !f fliose of my readers who may not be so fortunate as to ave cultivated a familiar friendship with the pages of that eloquent pioneer of the natural history of the woods and wilds and waters of America, the Scottish Wilson who has done more for tliat science than any dead or liv- ing inan, with the sole exception of his immortal sue- cessoMhe g,.at and good Audubon; and whose works wil stand side by side with his, so long as truthfulness of details correctness of classification, eloquence of «ghts shall command a willing audience. Speaking of this bird Le says— ^ , StZ* 'I ''""'^r'^ '"'""'" '" '"""'^ 1™*'- »*• "'** United States, from Florida to Lake Ontario, in the neighbor- 'if » i |1 210 AMEKIUAN GAME. !f- ■ i ii I*: 'I hood of wliicli latter j^lace I liave myself met with it in October. It rarely visits the sea-shore, or salt marshes, its favorite haunts being the solitary, deej>, and muddy creeks, ponds and mill-dams of the interior, making its nest frequently in old hollow trees that overhang the water. " The Summer Duck is equally well known in Mexico and many of the West India Islands. During the whole of our winters they are occasionally seen in the states south of the Potomac. On the 10th of January I met with two on a creek near Petersburg!!, in Virginia. In the more northern districts, however, they are migratory. In Pennsylvania the female usually begins to lay late in April, or early in May. Instances have been known where the nest was constructed of a few sticks laid in a fork of the branches ; usually, however, the inside of a hollow tree is selected for this purpose. On the 18th of May I visited a tree containing the nest of a Summer Duck, on the banks of the Tuckahoe River, New Jersey. It was an old, grotesque white-oak, whose top had been torn off by a storm. It stood on the declivity of the bank, about twenty yards from the water. In this hol- low and broken top, and about six feet down, on the soft, decayed wood, lay thirteen eggs, snugly covered with down, doubtless taken from the breast of the bird. These eggs were of an exact oval sliape, lees than those of a hen, the surface exceedingly fine grained, and of the highest polish, and slightly yellowish, greatly resem- THE 8UJIU1KB DUCK. au bhng „M polished ivory. TI.o egg „,eas„rod two inches about th tree I " th , """V'"' """"' "'"''"'''' --eo,ee::::LreTe::r"^^^-'^-^ pair t fl'f '"° """'''"•^' ^'■•"''"'^'^' "^ *« »-e was witlnn f ! '-^fo^ation, and whose house 11;^^^ l"t' "'^ ^^^!"»"''"-^'"«"' -^ '-own neck and lo„ 1 . 7, ^ '° ™S "'' ""^ «f the , ' '"''', '''"'''^'' t''^™ ™fcly at the foot of the tree benee she afterward led them to the water. V2 t>™ same tree, at the time I visited it,' a large slo^ W » the stocks, nearly finished; the d;clc was , t m :i >ng le presence and noise of the workmen, the dncks would not abandon their old breeding place, i^t c n«n «od to pass out and in, as if no person had been nt The male usually perched on an adjoining limb aTd Sreta:'r:\T^^""^^'-^-'--^^^^ low «n„„ f '/'""'«• ^ """« goose had chosen a hoi- W space at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch "The Summer Duck seldom flies in flocks of more than three or four individuals together, and most ZZ 212 AMERICAN. GAME. inoiily 111 i){urs, or singly. Tlio common note of tho dnike \'& ■peet^ 2)cet ; but -svlicn, standing sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a young cock, oe ceh ! oe ech ! Their food consists princi- pally of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and insects." Mr. AVilson states, as his opinion, that the flesh of this lovely little duck is inferior in excellence to that of the blue-winged teal. But therein I can by no means coin- cide with him, as I consider it, in the Atlantic states, inferior to no duck except the canvas-back, which is ad- mitted/rtC'/^(?^r««e,9 of all the duck tribe. The Sum- mer Duck is in these districts probably the most grami- nivorous and granivorous of the family, not affecting fish, tadpoles, frogs or field-mice, all of which are swallowed with great alacrity and rejoicing by the mallards, pin- tails, and other haunters of fresh water streams and lakes. On the great lakes of the west and north, where all the duck tribe feed to fattening on the wild rice and wild celeiyi, zizania aquatica and halisneria Americana, no one species is better than another, all being admirable ; but in the course of an autumn spent on the northern shores of Lake Huron and the rivers debouching into it, and thence north-westward to Lake Superior, I do not remember seeing any specimens of this beautiful bird, though I feel sure that it cannot but exist in those waters, which are in all respects so congenial to its habits. Another peculiarity of this species, which I have : ii- THE SUMMEK DUCK. S18 . poated y noticed, when it has not been disturbed hy anys,udeu noise o.- the mn-snit of dogs, is thus , Ul touched upon by M. J. P. g;,,,,,, j,; „^ 2^^^ and aeco,nplished ornithologist of Lo g Island ho ' unp-otending little vol„,„e should be tl,e tcx 1 ^ eve.y spo..ts,nan in the land who has a taste foT n' tlinig beyond mere wanton slaughter ^ "Often when following those bcautifu! and rapid reams that greatly embellish our country, in pnrs U tl- angW's beau ideal of sport, have I met lit «. I Wly-a t,red dnclc. As if proud of its unrivalled bea^ ^t would slowly rise and perform a circuit in the 2' eemmgty ,« ,,, ,,^ „,^. . ^^„ ^^,^^^^^^^^ e a of witnessing the gem of its tribe." '^ The Simnner Duek is very easily domesticated, if tho eggs be taken from the nest and hatched under a hen an tb y„„„,,,,, ,_^ perfectlytame,e»i g ; to the house or the barn-yard to be fed, with e-en moi! regularity than the common domestic duck;;:;,:: tl.e old birds, if taken by the net and wing- ipped wm .oon become gentle and lose their natural ly," s In the summer of 1843 I had the pleasure of seein. a -ge flock of these lovely wild fowl perfectly ge.ule n swcrmg the call of their owner by their pecuHa: mu : .: 1 :t; r' -'""'"'" ^^ '-' - 4 -'^' -i„. oiiun, tobefedbjhisliaiid. i^ickiuson, formerly a member of General Jackson's cabi- l4l 214 AMICIilC'AN GAME. if .-IF not, not far from Morristown, in "N'ow JorROV, which is sin- guliirly adapted for tlio rearing and domesticating thcBe /tvw nutu'ni; since it has, immediately adjoining tlie trim and regular gardens, a long and large tract of beautiful wild shrubbery, full of rare evergreens, and interspersed with bright, cool springs and streamlets feeding many l)onds and reservoirs, where they can feed, and sport, and breed, as undisturbed as in the actual wilderness; while the adjacent country being all tamo and highly culti- vated, they have no inducement to stray from their abode. Beside Summer Ducks, Mr. Dicldnson had at the period of my visit, Dusky Ducks, better known as Black Ducks, Green-winged Teal, CTolden-eyes, and, I thmk, Widgeon; but the Summer Ducks were by ftir the tamest, as the Dusky Ducks were the wildest of the com- pany. I should long ago have attempted to naturalize them on my own place, but that a largo river, the Passaic, washing the lower end of my lawn and garden, from which it would not be possible to exclude them, I have felt that it is useless to attempt it, the rather that there is a large patch of wild-rico immediately adjoining me, which would tempt them to the water, whence they w^ould drift away with the current or the tide, and be lost or shot in no time. The best time for shooting and for eating these fowl is late in October, when the acorns and beech-mast, of both of which they are inordinately fond, lie thick and ripe THE fiUMMKR DUCK. 215 on the woodland UmU of tLo streams and pools thoy love to frequent. An,'! this reminds mo of a little sketch, ilh.strativo of their habits, taken down almost verlati.. ii-om the lips of a right good follow, and at that time a right good sportsman also; though now, alas! the un- timol,. loss of the inestimable blessing of eyesight has robbed hnn, among other sources of enjoyment, of that tuvorite and innocent pastimo-tho forest chase- "Are there many Wood Ducks about this season, Tom? asked Forester, atfecting to be perfectly care- loss and indifferent to all that had passed. " Did you kill these yourself?" "There was a sight on them apiece back, but they're gittm' scase-pretty scase no;v^ I tell you. Yes, I shot those down by Aunt Sally's big spring-hole a Friday. 1 d been a lookin' round, you see, to find where the quail kept afoiu you came up here-for I'd a been expectin' you a week and better-and I'd got in quite late, toward sundown, with an outsidin' bevy, down by the cedar s^^^mp, and druv them off into the big bog meadows, below Sugarloaf, and I'd killed quite a bunch on them -sixteen, I reckon, Archer; and there wasn't but eighteen when I lit on em'-and it was gittin' pretty. well dark when I came to the big spring, and little Dash was worn dead out, and I was tired, and hot, and thun- derm' thirsty, so I sets down aside the outlet where the Hmng water comes in good and cool, and I was mixkin' np a nice, long drink in the big glass we hid last sum- Mi till 216 AMERICAN GAME. ■i?f ■" I i i I' • ■ i ■ r i II i mer down in the mnd-liole, with some r/reat cider sper- rits— when what slionld I hear all at once but whistle, whistlin' over head, the wings of a whole drove on 'em, so lip I buckled the old gun ; but they'd plumped down into the crick fifteen rod off or better, down by the big pin oak, and there they sot, seven ducks and two big purple-headed drakes — ^beauties, I tell you. Well, boys, I upped gun and tuck sight stret away, but just as I was drawin', I kind o' thought I'd got two little charges of number eight; and that to shoot at ducks at fifteen rod was n't nauthen. Well, then, I fell a thinkin', and then I sairched my pockets, and arter a piece foimd two green cartridges of number three, as Archer gave me in the spring, so I drawed out the small shot, and inned with these, and put fresh caps on to be sarten. But jest when I'd got ready, the ducks had floated down with the stream, and dropped behind the pint— so I downed on mv knees, and crawled, and Dash alongside on me, for all the world as if the darned dog knowed ; well, I craAvled quite a piece, till I'd got under a bit of alder bush, and then I seen them— all in a lump like, except two — six ducks and a big drake — feedin', and stickin' down their heads into the w eds, and fiutterin' up their hinder eends, and chattcrin' and jokin' — I could have covered them all witli a handkercher, exceptin' two, as I said afore, one duck and the little drake, and thoy was off a rod or better from tlie rest, at the two different sides of the stream— the big bunch warn't over ten rods TIIK SUMAIEIi DUCK. 217 e on em. "'>'!- »..eck-. Tl.o,v.tcr was quite clear an' ''"*. I tell VOL • aiiil I could see his head quite clear oo-;,, i 1 ' ^voli,Idraw'd tnVer and /, , "7="' "'« ^^t"'- 'eni-and tl,.,.» ''""»" "l'P«'' "''^^ ! °"« I tell yo,t_but not one on 'em ri.-not the fust one of tho hull hunch • hut „n ; , , others "iKlT.I,., -1 7 "PJ"'»Pcd toth tho 0 h s ; . t "' 1,°" r '"■'"^°— l-.^' tho whistlin' 01 1..S WM.8,, than that I seen hin,-hut I drawed strof A er, any .-ays ; and arter I'd pulled half a n.o.n t J "^ -fo'. sparkled up like a fountain where h ^ ' g tl.on I d,dn't ,vait to load, but ran along the h id- ! l.-d as I could strick it, and when I'd .-or down t, jpot, I tell yon, little Dash had got two o^ W t ft^! I came, and was in witit a third. AYell sic 7 , t ■^.>aasp.shin.astherew.asyounH.ir^i^i::r: .-I guess, f.,r sartin-leastwise I nivir did I'd "» ti. , hut three was only wounded, wing-tipped and leg-broken, and I can't tell yon what all. It ^Zlj -no o'clock at night, and dark as all out d 1 , gut ered them three ducks, hnt I did ga ' ^ I-o«l, boys, why I'd staved till n,ornin' l,uT l' ' «-sarten. Well, th^ drake I kU^'^i^/l^S ^^^^ t, 1^0 now, lor tho stl^.^onl swept Lim u. 218 AMEEICAN GAME. liV down, aiul I liadn't got no guide to go by, so I let Mm go tlien, but I was up next mornin' bright and airly, and started up the stream clean from tlie bridge here, up through Garry's back-side, and my bog-hole, and so on along- the meadows to Aunt Sally's run — and looked in every willow bush that dammed the waters back, like, and every bunch of weeds and brier-brake, all the way, and sure enough I found him, he'd been killed dead, and floated down the crick, and then the stream had waslied him up into a heap of broken sticks and briers, and when the waters fell, for there had been a little freshet, they left him there breast uppermost — and I was glad to find him — for I think, Archer, as that shot was the nicest, prettiest, etarnal, darndest, long, good shot, I iver did nuike, anyhow ; and it was so dark I could n't bce him." Many of his friends and mine will recognize the char- acter, to wliom I allude, as he figures largely in the jDages of " The Warwick Woodlands," from which the above extract is taken, of " My Shooting-box," and tlio other sporting scenes of Frank Forester, wherein nothing good or generous or kind is related of Tom Draw, that does not fall fiir short of the reality. Uefore closing this article, I will correct an error into which I perceive I have inadvertently fallen in the first page of it, wherein I said that this duck, alone of the familj/, has the habit of perching, roosting, and nesting on trees. !',:! I 'I THE SUiOIEE DUCK. q^q -''Join instead of .ere,, ^^V ^ /^C '» • -n"" be glad to be corrected in detail Tf o will be seen below, that, altbougl. tl e are LT"' " Asiatic and African con^enerq nf nn>. « ^ wbich an especial na^elaT W ^^ ^— ^'t' 'T as yet general,, adopted. I ^Jj, '^ "^^^ L t,n name of our bird, anas ^on.a, signifies e" .ntorprete , the Iri.e ,uol; fron. the ra e dega 'e " form and beauty of its Dln™n„a '«=ance ot its r.-otty creature. '■='-" ''""^ "™« ^^ '^ . "^'"'.''; ^"'-"^y '^'"''ks .nay be sa.d to represent an -cossonal fo„„ among the anaticl.; they h, m\„i perch on trees, and spend as much ti.n'e on Ld '„ l^ tl.e waters; Dr. Richardson has given fhisZlr *a.ning few members, the title of I J I^Z't, X" oroal habits Our present species is the ol Id g,ng to America, where it ranges rather to he u hanr..^^ " ind.a. They are remarkable for the Iionrtv „ i spiendor of their plumage, its glossy, si^y te^ u ^ Zl »■ es,ngnlarformoft,,escapu,ar,;\H.^^^ an extreme development in length, receive it in the con- trary proportion of breadth ; and instead of Ivin. Zl ! )' !i£~il V. Ut 220 AMERICAN GAME. some stand perpendicular to the back. They jare all adorned with an ample crest, pendulous, .., A running down the hack of the neck. They are easily domesti- cated, but I do not know that they have been yet of much utility in this state, being more kept on account of their beauty, and few have been introduced except to our menageries ; with a little trouble at first, they might form a much more common ornament about our artificial pieces of water. It is the only form of a Tree Duch common to this continent ; in other countries there are, however, two or three others of very great importance in the natural system, whose structure and habits have yet been almost entirely overlooked or lost sight of. These seem to range principally over India, and more sparingly in Africa ; and the Summer Duck is the soli- tary instance, the United States the nearly extreme limit, of its own peculiarities in this division of the world." "With this note I close this paper, expressing only the hope that the bird will become more largely domestica- ted ; as no more beautiful adornment can ])e conceived to the parks and shrubberies of gentlemen, such more especially as possess the advantages of smLll inland rivulets, or pieces of ornamental water, whether natural or artificial. y jare all L running '■ domesti- m yet of ti account except to ley miglii r artificial Free Duch tliere are, mportance ibits have sight of. and more J the soli- r extreme )n of the r only the domestica- conceived inch more l11 inland ler natural ""T^if ' ' ! til !■!' !■ ' '1 1: I 'If ■ || i 1 1 0 ft ft- m fo- ex ex kn Til THE AMEEICAN DEER. Cervua Virginianus. ^ This beautiful and noble animal, formerly so abundant m every part of the United States, from tlie Great Lakes to tlie ocean, and from the eastern boundaries of Maine to the southern limit of their vast empire, is peculiar to the continent of America, and differs entirely from each of the three European species, with two of which it has been at times confounded, and even more markedly from all the African and Asiatic varieties. The deer of Europe, and of Great Britain in particular, from which country we have derived most of our sport- ing propensities and traditions, and I might add all our sporting nomenclature, consist of three very distinct species. These are, first, the Red Deer, which is now found only in the Highlands of Scotland, with the exception of a iii^Y in Somerset and Devon, and the extreme western wilds of Ireland. The male of these is known as the Stag or Hart, and the female as the Hind. This is a magnificent and imposing creature, handsomer f- i I i I m 222 AMEllICAN GAME. I even and more stately than our deer, witli branched antlers exactly similar to those of our great western Elk, though of inferior size. Second, the Fallow Deer, the species usually kept in a semi-domesticated state in the parks of the nobility and gentry, both as an ornament to the scenery, -and as an article of luxury for the table. This is a beautiful and graceful creature, far less stately than the Red Deer, or the denizen of our forests, but slightly and symmetrically moulded, and the very heau ideal of grace and airy motion. It has flattened or palmated horns, about mid- way in form between those of the Moose and Cariboo, or American Eeindeer, though, of course, proportionally smaller. In color, the Fallow Deer differs materially from all the other species, and is itself by no means uniform, some individuals being almost black, and others nearly white ; the majority are, however, beautifully dappled, and some pied, with tints of brown fawn color and yellowish white. The Fallow Deer is not believed to be indigenous to Great Britain, nor indeed to Europe, being, I imagine, of oriental origin ; nor is it found any where in a state of nature or at large ; being confined exclusively in parks or cliases of more or less extensive range, often including large tracts of forest land ; and it has been observed that the wilder the character of the park, and the more broken and forest-like the nature of the soil, especially when it produces heather or fern in abun- THE AAIEKICAN DEEK. 223 danco, the wilder and more gamy h the flavor of ti.e venison. The third yariety is the Eoo, a native of all the wilder and more broken forest regions of Great Britain, both north and south, though they are few in number as compared witli either of the other species. They are much smaller than the Eed or Fallow Deer, of a unifonu redd.sh-brown color, and are distinguished by small erect horns, wtl, a single prong i„ front. Of the two last speces the male is know.i as the buck, the female as (ho doe. The American Deer in size, color, the branched for- mation of its antlers, and the character of its flesh, most nearly resembles the lied Deer of Europe, hut is clearly distinguished from that animal by some peculiarities in Its structure and by the shape of its horns. In the European Red Deer, the direction of the main stem of the antlers is directly backward, all the brandies or prongs springing from the anterior side and pointing forward, the lowest on each side, or brow antler, which IS the principal defense of the animal against his natural enemies, the wolf and dog, bending forward aud down- ward on the outer side of the brow and eye. In the American Deer, the main stem at first inclines backward for about half its length, but then turns for- ward with a bold curve, and terminates in a sharp deflected point, all the prongs, which are sometimes themselves bifid, and even trifid, arising from the poste- Ji 224 AMERICAN O^UIE. rior side, ami yrlslng from it in a forward and upward tlircction. Tlic only exception to tliid is tlie brow antler, a short erect spike, which arises from the inner and anterior surface of tlio principal stem. In color the American Deer is generally of a reddidh- hrown, or fvdvoiis tint, darker above, and pure white on the chin, throat, belly, and inside of the fore-legs, the njDper parts being more or less diversified with cinereous gray, or bluish hairs. These become more numerous during the summer, and in the autunni, and during the winter the whole animal assumes a grayer tint. The ears are margined with dark brown, and are white within, the upper side of the tail is of the same color "with the upper parts in general, and is white below. The hoofs are jet black. The female is smaller than the male, and hornless, but otherwise resembles him exactly ; the fawns are beauti- fully spotted with .. egular white spots on a fulvous or tawny ground. The male is generally known as the buck, and the female as the doe ; though, for my owii part, I consider from their gi-eater analogy to the Em-o- [)ean Ked Deer than to any other variety, that Hart and Hind would be the more correct and sportsmanlike nomenclature. This is, however, at best but a subordi- nate matter, and need not be insisted on, especially until the graver and more important errors in sporting nomen- clature, among the birds and fishes especially, have been corrected. THE AMKItlCAN DEER. 225 : nomen- Tho door ],as usually bnt ono, novor moro than two fawn.at„,,i,.th. In tho aouthon, parts of tho «,a.e *• New 1 ork thoso aro for the .nost part dropped iu May and June, but furthor north, son.ewhat carlior iu tho year. During the rutting season the males are bold and extremely pugnacious an.ong themselves, although not ).ke the Kod Door eapablo of attaoking nn-u ^Wtho, p.'Ovocation. The ery of the „,.or when alarn.ed is « q".ck-, tremulous whistling sound, aeeon.panied by a stamp of the foot; whon mortally wounded they will at buies utter a laiut bleat like that of a young caif. In .ts habits the Amerioan Doer is, for the most part, exoopt ,„ the vast prairies of the West, a woodland haunter, as, aeeording to Catallus, was the deer of Greeee and Asia Minor, whioh, in his eomprehensive aud lueturesque eon,pound he deseribes as sylvie.dtrix, the gaunter of the woodlands, and in this respeet it differs from the Ked Deer of Great Britain, whieh prefers the Clheult and craggy mountain-tops, or the far-extended downs eovered with waving heather to the dark pine woods of tho Scottish Uigldands, or the beautiful oak coppices of Devonshire. % law the killing of the American Deer has gene- rally been restricted in most States to the months between August and December, both inclusive, but so rapid is the progress of annihilation going on with (hese beanti- tul animals that in some counties of New York the only months during which it is lawful to take them, are Sep- 1-: I Vi ih iff If!!!' 226 AMERICAN GAME. teinbcr, October, and November. All IcgiBlation, how- ever, on the Bubjcct of game preservation would seem to bo hopeless, so long as tlio whole tone and spirit of the popular mind of the masses is regulary set against their enforcement. Nothing, indeed, is more singular or more to be lamented than the strange perversion of intellect which seems to have come over the whole body of the white settlers of Nortli America, whether of Canada, New Brunswick, the Atlantic States, or the far West, leading them to wage incessant and merciless war on every wild animal, whether of fur, fin, or feather, slaughtering them at all times, and in all places, in season and out of season ; when their flesh is nutritive and delicious, when it is utterly unfit for the food of man ; when their peltries or feathers are commercially valuable, when they are worthless; slaughtering them wantonly and recklessly for the mere love of slaughter, and often leaving their carcases to decay in the depths of the forest, until they are becoming all but extinct, as in a few years they unquestionably will, unless sounder views shall hereafter prevail. Tlie willful waste and wanton annihilation of the buffalo in the West ; the knocking on the head of the deer, in New York and Pennsylvania, with clubs, by snow-shoe mounted ruffians, during the deep snows of winter, when their flesh and hides are alike valueless — and that literally by tens of thousands ; and the sweeping the spawning beds of the salmon with the seine, and persecuting the spent and TJIK AMKRK.'AN DEER. pe«>e.I from tl.cr most favorite rivers i„ the British rov,„ee, are „,1 forn.s of this same wanton, wick ''«d well ,„gh said fiendish spirit, whieh is re Uy „ C 1 acterusfe, as I have observed, of the white settler of every jiart of America. and' 'eu",;'T*'''f ? "^ "'•'" "'° ^•"-'^ "^ "vili.ation and culture 1ms destroyed the game, for it is a woll I'nown fact that game of all soris increases in the -e " earn t, „.,,,,, „,,,^^^,^„^ osttd m the,r seasons of reproduction, nestin.., spawn -g, or tending their helpless young, s^ long at 7Zm cency of woodland is left to afford them sh^ter lu Scotland, the Red J5eer, which are strictly pre- served, so far as the prohibition to kill them oj „f season goes but neither fed, tended, nor herded, arc and have been for years rapidly on the increase and U wonM probably be within the mark to say that t ere are at tins .nstant fifty times as many Ked Deer in the small space to the northward of the Highland line, than in all the States between Maine and the Delaware. In to eastern and norther, parts of Maine, they are still plen- Wul desp,te the sedulous efforts of the lumber-men to anmblate the race, and the occasional devastation of the Wves. In the northern parts of Yennont, -assachu- tts, and Connecticut, a few are still to be found, though tl ey are but as individuals compared to the vast herfs which were wont to roam those green glades and wild ■\'Ml 228 AMKPJCAN GAME. iiiouiitain pastures. Witli the exception of a few on Long Island, in tlie northern counties, and about the still wild banks of the Delaware, in New York, they are already extinct. In Xew Jersey, with a small wretched remnant of the once as abundant heath-hen, prairie-fowl, or pinnated grouse, a few straggling deer may still bo found in that remote and little traversed region called from its prevailing growth, the pines, lying along the Atlantic coast. Elsewhere they exist not. To the west- ward of Pennsylvania, and through the South, even so far as Texas and Kew Mexico, through the West to the Ilocky Mountains, and northward through both the Canadas, they arc still abundant, and will continue so, it may be expected, for some years to come — in the Canadas and the Southern States especially, where the laws for their preservation are rigidly enforced, and where the greater number of educated men and gentry settled throughout the rural districts, have produced some effect on the mind of the masses as regards the wholesale and useless extinction of game out of season. The modes of pursuing and taking this fine animal, whether ibr pleasure or profit, are almost innumerable, but of chese almost all partake of the poaching or pot- hunting system too much to obtain from me more than a mere passing notice. The first and most generally practiced of these is what is variously called driving, or stand-liunting, in which the shooters are placed on the circuit of a certain tract iKl THE AMEltlCAJ!! DEKB. 229 Of woodlands, each one at the deboucluirc of a dooi-path upon so,„e lal., s.-oandet, or road which it .nay chance 0 .nterscct whiie the interior of the circuit i/leat Z dnvers and J.ounds, ,vhich force the deer from the tral by one or other of the paths; and than this, although it mi know.ats passionate votaries, I can conceive no duller, more poachea-like, or .ess exciting sport-if sport It must be called. ^ ' The standing shivering, or sweltering for hours, as it »T.ay chance to he in .u,gust or in December, at a run- way, perhaps not once liearing the hounds even at a distance from morn t.U dewy eve; perhaps catching for a moment the vohnue of their eadenced cry, onW to Hear rt die away in the distance until the crack of a remote nfle tells yon that the deed is done, and that not unto you rs the doing of it; perhaps, if you have the very best luck of it, hearing the cry come nigher, nh-her swelmg njomcntly on the ear, hearing the b;hes' shaken, and the dry sticks crackling m.der a rapid foot and then to complete the whole, seeing a great, tiudd' tremhhng, helpless beast driven up to within ten feet of the mnzde of your shot-gun or rifle, which, after whist- mg or bleating at him to compel him to stop short in his tracks and stand motionless as a mark for your buck Bhot practice, you incontinently bntcher in cold blood Yet a more scurvy mode than this, of deer-huntin- is practiced by night, under the name of tlre-huntinri„ two dia-erent ,vays, cither by floating and paddling ia i I ■^ i' 230 AMERICAN GAME. ils<' / canoes along the margin of streams and brooks to wliicli tlie deer come down to feed, having a light elevated in the bows npon a plank which jiartially conceals the j)erson of the shooter — or by walking stealthily throngh the woods with a fire-pan supported by a staff, and filled with blazing light wood knots, carried before you by an assistant, close in whose wake you crawl along, with ready gun, prepared for secret murder. Seeing the mysterious lights through the glimmering twilight of the woods, the timid deer stands at gaze half curious, half fascinated, until the strong reflected light falling on the balls of his tlistended eyes, makes them glare out like balls of fire, and. enables his dastardly associate to point the deadly tube directly at the centre of his broad fair brow between them, and so to slay him unsuspecting. "Worse yet, indeed worst of all, where all are bad and base, is the practice borrowed from the Indian, who killing not for sport but for necessity, not to gratify the hunter's gallant zeal, but to supply his wigwam with food for its inmates, at all times killed from ambush, and never discharging an arrow but when he was sure of killing — is the practice, I say, of lying in ambush by some salt-lick, or spring to which the deer comes down to drink, and, well concealed to the leeward of his path, to shoot him down without difliculty, as without excite- ment. The more legitimate modes — the only modes to which 1 think the true sportsman will resort — are deer-stalking, THE AMERICAN DEER. 231 or a u ,s ca led still-hunting, i„ ti.e north-h„nti„g tho Hart n>anf„l,y and gallantly .it,, fleet horses, and f I of we 1 .Hatched and tuneful fox-hounds, with the b ,Z V|ow alloa and the cheery Mast of the tej-bugle, vi h ^cluvalnc sportsmen of the sunny south-and last, J»«east, coursmg hi™ with a leash of fleet greyhound, or, better yet, a leash of the tall, -.ire-ha^ Z^ coated deer-hounds of the Scottish Highlands, ver The wdd and verdant prairies of the West The first of these niethods is the only one, which tho rough craggy, and mountainous character of the forest and frequented by deer in the Northern States, wh ct Lorses cannot for the most part traverse at all, c rtain v not at speed, will allow the hunter to adopt aTd f U ack the maddening excitement of galloping over bush bank, and scaur, taking bold leaps, and striding irrelt Me over ravine or gully, over fallen tree or rol^h ™ - feuce, w«h the fierce music of the hounds stirring your bram abnost to madness, it requires at least so many ci..aht.es of skill and science, such quickness of eye'r such ,„s tmeuve calculation of causes and efi'ecL, such nian.hke power of following the faintest trail „f dt.tect,ng b,^ the displacement of a yellow leaf, by' the d.sorercd foliage of a broken bush, or the broken bl on a rayed sapling, whither and when, and at what pace *be object of pursuit has passed that way, that by the conscousness of, and confidence in your own selt^ower self-energy, and self-sufHciency to all emergencies that ^ ill ^ -I' if ii f f ^^1 r;t 111 foi i4^ 2^2 AMERICAN GAME. ■ i- 1| I N: it must be considered as a sport, and as one of a high and noble order. To these advantages again are to be , added the wild and glorious haunts of nature into which it leads our vagrant footsteps— the springs, fitted to be the baths of brighter nymphs than any of those who trod immortal. Dryads or Oreads of Delia's train, by which we eat our frugal meal, and with which we qualify our temperate cups— the high and liberal mountain-tops, visited by a clearer and more lustrous sunshine, fimned by a purer and more exhilarating air, than any known to the sleek citizen, to which we climb, led by the fierce excitement of pursuit; and then the ruddy watch-fire silently blazing in the depths of the mysterious wilder- ness before the bark-roofed shanty, before the hemlock bed, which shelter and console us after the long tramp and the hurried chase — Ihe awakening to the cries of the early birds, in the fresh gray of the awakening dawn, the delicious bath in the clear basin of the mountain- torrent, the woodman's morning meal of trout or venison, cooked by the glowing embers, and eaten with no better condiments than appetite and exercise and health may furnish— all these— all these are the delights which add so inspiriting a charm to the North Country still-hunt, and half tempt the dwellers of pent cities to abandon the culture, the luxury, the companionship, and the civ- ilization of gentlemen, for the more congenial toils and more inspiriting delights of the w^oodman's life. THE AMERICAN DEER. 233 Oliat IS an aspiration ^yliicU all men, who have tasted of the freshness, the originality, the primitive elastic- vigor of tlie woodland life, untrammeled by no formnh^ fettered by no false and absurd conventionalities, a life emphatically of ...., desire to taste again-ycarn after it^how eagerly, when debarred from it by the hateful necessities of business-and, when they return to it after years of desuetude, greet it as old men would cn-eet renewed manhood, or exiles restored home. This is the feeling which is so instinct of life, and sunshine, and breezy freshness in the writings of the earlier and more original of England's poets-which prompted one great Eoman to cry mournfully, " O rus, O rus, ^uando ego te a^^c^a,n^ and another to admit half apologetically, as If It were in some sort a reproach, - Flumina amera et ^Ul^asmutosqueinglorius amncs r and in all breasts a something of this hunter's spirit, under one form or other will burst perennial, until we go whither the weary are at rest, and the wicked cease from troublino-. And a good spirit it is, in moderation, and good to be nidulged-aiid so up with the forest chaunt.^ So it is— yet let us sln^ Honor to the old bowstring- ! Honor to the hxv^h horn ! Honor to the woods unsliorn ! Honor to tlie Lincoln green I Honor to the woodman keen ! r f 1.. lit ill I 234 AAIEKICAN GAME. and health, and joy, and success still increasing to the bold, the fair, the gallant hunter, as all ill-fortunes and most foul reverses to the disloyal pot-hunter, the low and sordid poacher of whatever land he be I IX. SEPTEMBER. ^t imii-Hiitg^Jr m. Anaa Cardinensis. Anas Dkcora, CANADA; BRITISH PROVINCES; UNITED STATES. M* 1 ' i:;t lis ?■ ' . • i 1 fi, ■ i i i . * Iff 1 1 1 '1 t II •;! ft 1 1 II 1 J 5 =5 T. u THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL. A7ias Carolinensis. THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL. Anas Discors. In this present month, the sport of duck-sliooting on the inh^nd streams, rivers, and lakelets, may be held to commence in earnest, as contrasted to the pursuit of the same tribes on the outer bays, estuaries, and surf-banks. About the end of September, and thenceforth through this and the next ensuing month, according to the varia- tions of the seasons, and the longer or shorter endurance of that delicious time, the most delicious and most gor- geous of the whole American year, known throughout this continent as Indian Summer, the Mallard, and the two beautiful species which we have placed at the head of this article, begin to make their a^jpearance on the little lakes of the interior, and in the various streams and rivers which fall into them, and thence downward to the Atlantic seaboard. In the vast northern solitudes of the great lakes of the northwest, in all ihQ streams of Upper Canada, even to i : i i! L t. !■ 238 AMERICAN OAaiB. 4' 'Ji' 1 jf the feeders of Lake Superior, and tlu'ougliout the woatorn country 8o far south as Texas, and northward to the Coluiubia and tlio fur countries, tlio Ulue-Wingcd Teal breeds, llt-"ally by myriads. Througliout the great hikes, it is abundant in tlie early autumn, becomino- excessively fat on the seed of the wild rice, with which the shallows of all these waters are overgrown, and beino* deservedly esteemed as one of the best, if not the very best, of the duck tribe. But it is the first of its race to remove from the wild, limpid waters, and wood-embo- Bomed rivers of the great west, totlie seaboard tide-waters, taking the inland water-courses on their route, rarely visiting the actual sea-shores, and proceeding on the occurrence of the first frosts, for they are singularly sus- ceptible of cold, to the Southern States, where they swarm, especially in the inundated rice-fields of Georgia and South Carolina, during the winter months. The Green-Winged Teal, which is the nearest con- gener, and frequently the associate of the Blue-Wing, has a far less extensive range, so far as regards its breed- ing-grounds, in as much as it never, so far as has been satisfactorily shown, has nidificated or produced its young south of the great lakes, nor even there in great numbers, its favorite haunts for the purposes of repro- duction, being the extreme northern swamps and wooded morasses, almost up to the verge of the arctic circles. It does not come down on its southward migration, at nearly so early a period of the autumn as its congener, THE OREEN-WINGED TEAL. 230 being ess suBcoptiblo of cold, and tarrying on the Great J^akes till the frosts set in with sufficient severity to pro- vent Its frequenting its favorite Imunts with pleasure or obtaining its food with facility. It is rarely or never Boen in the Mid■ if i 1 1 J pil V''*"" iJijL III 'H In I 24:0 AMEElCA:^r game. of tilling Ills boat with these delicious ducks within a few hours' shooting. Both of these species are rather tame tlian otherwise, the hliie-winged bird more particularly which has a habit, on the lower waters of the Delaware especially, of congregating on the mud in vast flocks, sunning themselves in the serene and golden light of a September noon, so careless and easy of approach, that the gunner is frequently enabled to paddle his skiff within a few yards of them, and to rake them with close discharges of his heavy batteries. At times, when the tide is out, and the birds are assembled on the flats out of gunshot from the water's ^dge, the thorough-going sportsman, reckless of wet feet or muddy breeches, will run his skifl" ashore, several hundred yards above or below the flock, and getting cautiously overboard, will push it before him over tlie smooth, slippery mud-flats, keeping himself carefully concealed under its stern until within gunshot, which he can sometimes reduce to so little as flfteen or twenty yards, by this murderous and stealthy method. The Green-AYinged Teal is mucli less apt to congregate, especially on shore, than the other, and consequently afl'ords less sport to tlie boat-shooter, keeping for the most jjart afloat in little companies, or trips, as they are technically called, very much on the alert, and springing rapidly on the wing when disturbed. They, and the Blue-Wings also, fly very rapidly, dodging occasionally on the wing, not unlike to a wild, sharjD- flying Woodcock, and when they alight, darting down- ims OEICEN-WINGED TEAl. :3H ^usl y covert, exactly after the fashion of the same bird. The commoner and, in our opinion-where these birds are abundant either along the courses of winding dra „ or streamlets, or in large reedy marshes, with let soi ^J^occastonal pools or splashes-far the more exciting ^. of lallmg them is to go carefully and warily on foo° w.h a good mediu„.si.ed doubie-gun, say of eig'.to t I 1— we.g t and a thoroughly well bLe a:d steady nel, ,.etr,e.ea„d occasionally to flush the birds! -In 1, w, 1 sometimes, though rarely, lie very hard. A g od sportsman will frequently, thus late in the autumn, when the mornings are sharp and biting, and the noon -ann .and hazy, but before the ice makes, pick up, on Wable ground, his eight or nine couple in a dly's .ah.„g, w,th a chance of picking up at the same time a few Sn,pe, Golden Plovers, Curlew, or Godwit; and this, >n our „„„.i, i, ,g„,, ^^ „,„g,,t^,.„^ ^ ^^^^ j^^^ ' snoak,ng up in ambush to within twenty yards of a great company, wlnstling to make them lift their heads and ■•"ffle up their loosened plum.ago, so as to give easy entrance to the shot, .and then pouring into them at half pomt-blank r.inge, a h.alf pound of heavy shot. "In the southern States they .are commonly taken " says Wikon, in "v.ast numbers, in traps pLaced on the small dry eminences that here and there rise .above the water of the inundated rice-fields. These places are strewed with rice, an.l by the common contrivance 242 AMEKICAN GAME. uul called a iigure four, tliey are cauglit alive in hollow traps." This we, of course, merely mention as illus- trative of the habits of the bird; for, of course, no sports- man would dream of resorting to so worse than poacher- like proceeding. The mode described by the eloquent pioneer of American natural history, is probably prac- tised, for the most part, by the negroes for the supply of their masters' table, and furnishing their own pockets with a little extra change, and is not used by the plant- ers as a means of sport or amusement. It must be remembered, a!so, that Wilson, than whom there is no writer more to be relied on in matters which he relates of his own knowledge, and as occurring in his own days, must often be taken cum grano salts, as to the numbers of birds slain in this way or that within a certain time- things which he records, probably, on hearsay, and on which — we are sorry to say it— even good sportsmen, men who on any o'«lier subject would scorn to deviate one hair's breadth from the truth, will not hesitate to draw a bow as long and as strong as Munchausen's. Again, he writes of times when sporting was but little pursued, otherwise than as a method of procuring supe- rior food for the table, or for the purpose of destroying noxious vermin and beasts of prey ; when the rules of sportsmanship were little understood and as little re- garded ; and, lastly, when game abounded to a degree literally inconceivable in our day— although we have ourselves seen, with sorrow, the diminution, amounting THE GREEN-WINGED TEAL. 243 n hollow as illus- no sports- i poaclier- } eloquent iLly prac- lie supply m pockets the plant- must be lere is no he relates own days, e numbers ain time — ly, and on sportsmen, to deviate hesitate to ichausen's. ,s but little tring supe- destroying le rules of 8 little re- 0 a degree [i we have amounting in many regions around our large cities almost to ex- .tinction, of all birds and beasts— nay, but even fish of chase, within the last twenty years. We must be care- ful tlierefore not to charge exaggeration on a writer who beyond a doubt, faithfully recorded that which he him- self saw and enjoyed in his day; which we might see likewise and enjoy in our generation, and our cliildren and grand-children after us, if it were not for tlie greedy, stupid, selfish, and brutal pot-hunting propensities of our population, alike rural of the country and mechanical ol the cities, which seems resolutely and of set purpose bent on the utter annihilation of every species of game, whether of fur, fin, or feather, which is yet found within our boundaries. In my opinion, the common error of all American fowlers and duck shooters, lies, in the first place, in the overloading the gun altogether, causing it to recoil so much as to be exceedingly disagreeable and even pain- ful and in the same degree diminishing the efl^ct of the discharge ; for it must never be forgotten that when a gun recoils, whatever force is expended on the retro- gressive motion of the breech, that same force is to be deducted from the propulsion of the charge. In the second place, he erroneously loads with extremely large and heavy shot, the result of which is, in two respects, inferior to that of a lighter and higher number. First, as there will be three or four pellets of No. 4 for every one pellet of A or B in a charge, and, consequently, as Mi iif If fH ^ii ^-m M: 244: AMERICAN GAisrr:. f- ; f 91 'M I I ' the load is thereby so iiuich the more regularly tlistrib- iited, and so much the more likely to strike the object, and tliat in several places more, in the rstio of three or four to one, than could be effected by A's or B's. Second, as the flesh will constantly close over the wound made by a small shot, so as to cause the bleeding to go on internally to the engorgement of the tissues and suf- focation by hemorrhage ; whereas the wound made by the large grain will relieve itself by copious bleeding, and the bird so injured will oftentimes recover, after having fallen even to the surface of the water, or lain flapping, as it were, in the death-struggle on the blood- stained sand or grassy hassocks. This fact has been well noticed, and several examples adduced to prove its truth, by Mr. Giraud, in his exceedingly clear and correct, though to our taste, far too brief volume on the " Birds of Long Island." For my own use I invariably adopt for all the smaller sj)ecies of duck — as the two varieties of Teal, the Summer Duck, the Golden Eye, and the Buffel-headed Duck, A?iates, Carolinensis, Diseors, Sjjonsa, and Fuli- gulcE, Clatujula^ and ATbeola — the same shot which is generally used for the various birds known on our shores and rivers as bay-snipe, viz : No. 4 or 5 — the latter best for the Plovers, the former for duck, whether in large or small guns. In this relation I may observe that, on one occasion — the only one, by the way, on which I ever saw a green-winged teal in the summer season — I killed THE GBEEN-WINGED TEAL. 245 a couple of these beautiful birds, riglit and loft, while woodcock sliootiug, in Orange County, New York, with Ko. 8 shot. Thej sprang quite unexpectedly from behind a willow bush, on the Wawayanda creek, and I dropped them both quite dead, somewhat to my own astonish- ment, and to the utter astounding of Fat Tom, who witnessed it, into the middle of the stream, respectively at twenty and' twenty-five yards distance. Until I recov- ered them I supposed that they were young wood ducks, but on examination they proved to be yomio- oreen- winged teal, of that season, in their immature plumage. This must have been in the last week of July or the first of August— it was many years since, and as at that time I kept no shooting diary, I unfortunately am unable to verify the exact date. The birds must, I conclude, have been bred in that vicinity, by what means I cannot con- jecture, unless that the parent birds might have been wounded in the spring, and disabled from complethig (heir northern migration, and that tliis, as is sometimes the case with the minor birds of passage, might have superinduced their breeding in that, for them, far soutli- ern region. In corroboration of this I may add that, in the spring of 1840, a couple of these birds haunted a small reedy island in front of my house, on the Passaic, to tio late a day in sununer — the 29th, if I do not err, of May — that I sedulously avoided disturbing them, in. the liope that they would breed there. This I yet think would have been the case but for the constant disturb- i •!i tli'l h^Ml m ''f!tSte: 246 A3IE111CAN GAJVIE. i ance of that lovely river tliroiigliout the summer by gangs of rutliaiily loafers, with whom the neighboring town of Xewark abounds beyond any other town of its size in the known world, boating upon its silvery surface day and night, and rendering day and night equally hideous with their howls and blasphemies. Before proceeding to the description of these birds it is well to observe that it will be found the better way, in ap]>roaching them, as indeed all wild fowl, to work, if posisible, up wind to tliem ; not that wild fowl have the power, as some pretend, of scenting the odor of the unman enemy on the tainted gale, as is undoubtedly the case with deer and many other quadrupeds, but that their hearing is exceedingly acute, and that their heads are pricked up to listen, at the occurrence of the least unusual sound, and at the next moment — hey, pre&to ! — they are ofi'. The little cut at the head of this paper, for the spirited and faithful execution of which the author and artist must be permitted to return his acknowledgments to his friend, Mr. Brightly, represents a favorite feeding-ground of the various tribes of water fowl, as is indicated by the large gaggle of geese i>assing over, from right to left, and the trip of green-wings alighting to the call of a clamorous drake in the background. On a rocky spur of the sliore, in the right foreground, is a male Green- Winged Teal, in the act of springing, with his legs already gathered under him ; and, still nearer to the front THE GEEEN-WINOED TEAL. 247 mimer by ;i^li boring own of its ;ry surface it equally 5e birds it etter way, , to work, fowl liave dor of tlie btedly the ;, but that [leir heads f the least presto ! — he spirited and artist ents to his in_t^-ground dicated by n right to the call of rocky spur ale Greeii- 1 his legs to the front of the picture, on the right, a Blue-Winged Drake, swimming on the limpid water, soliciting his congener, ■with reverted neck, and the harsh gabble— whence his name— to take wing and greet the new-comers— it being the object of the draftsman to give an idea not merely of the markings and form of these two most beautiful and graceful of the duck tribe, but of their motions, the character of their flights, and the nature of their feeding- grounds and habitations. The head of the Green- Winged Teal is of moderate size and compressed ; the bill nearly as long as the head, deeper than broad at the base, depressed at the tip ; neck slender, vi moderate length; body full and depressed ; wings rather small, feet short and rather far back. The plumage is short and blended ; that of the hilnder head and neck elongated into a soft filamentous droop- ing crest. The bill is black ; iris hazel ; feet light blue ; head and upper part of neck bright chestnut brown ; a broad band of sliiuiug rich bottle-green, narrowing from the eye backward and downward to the nape, margined below wdth black, anterior to which is a white line ; chin dusky brown. Upper parts and flanks white, beautifully and closely undulated with narrow lines of deep gray. Anterior to the wings is a broad transverse lunated white hav—tMs alone distivguishhig the Ameri- can from the Emojpean bird. The wing coverts, scapu- lars and c^uills gray. The speculum bright green above, I =•■•. 248 AMEKICAN GAME. blue-black below, margined posteriorly with pure white. Tail brownish gray, margined witli paler brown. Lower part of the neck undulated, like the back. Breast pale rufous, spotted and banded with black ; white below. Abdomen white, barred with rp:ay. A black patch undei^the tail ; the lateral tail coverts tawny, tlie larger black, white-tipped and margined. Length of male bird, 14|.24. Female, 13|.22J. Tlie description and drawing of this bird are taken, by kind permission, which the writer gratefully acknowl- edges, from a fine specimen in the Academy of l^aturul Science of this city. The Blue-Winged Teal is rather larger than the above, the male measuring 16.311, the female 15.21. Tlie shape and proportions of this bird closely resem- ble those of the latter, but in plumage it widely differs from it. The bill is blueish black ; iris dark hazel ; feet dull yellow, webs dusky ; upper part of the head black, a semilunar patch of pure white, margined with black anterior to the eye ; the rest of the head and upper neck deep purplish gray, with changeable ruddy reflections. The lower hind neck,. back, alula, and upper parts gene- rally, rich chocolate brown, every feather margined with paler tints, from reddish buff to pale reddish gray, with black central markings, changing to metallic green in the centres. Upper wing coverts rich ultra-marine blue, with a metallic lustre ; the lower parts pale reddish orange, shaded on the breast with purplish red, and THE BLUE- WINGED TEAL. 249 tliicklj spotted witli roundish or elliptical black spots; axillary feathers, lower wing coverts, and a patch on the side of the mmp, pure white ; lower tail coverts brown- ish black. These, with the exception of the Buffel-IIeaded Duck, are the two smallest ; with the exception of the Summer Duck, the two loveliest; with the exception of the Can- vas-Back the two best of the duck tribe. Well met be they, whether on the board or in the field— shot be they with No. 4— eaten roast, underdone, with cayenne and a squeeze of a lemon, lubricated with red wine, quantum suf. ■■'I' I i m Ml M ■ill' 'ill' Ci V X. OCTOBER. m^t Ortysn Virginianua. THE AMERICAN rAIlTRlDGE. CANADA WEST; MASSACHUSETTS TO MEXICO. Ardea Lentiginosa. THE QUAAVK. THE DUNKADOO. CANADA ; BRITISH PROVINCES ; UNITED STATES. i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. # .^ .^^. 1.0 ■ 3 0 '"'^" ■^ ^ ! !.l ?." 1.25 i 1.4 25 12.2 2.0 1.8 ^ V] y] ^'^ / em. o\ ■"'■ % 0> '''# Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 we.' MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14530 (716) 872-41ji3 ) f/j mt 1 ■'!■ ) ; r ! i ■■ ■ it: 1 !:ii IM' J' V h> l i! iS^ ' ik. m V ill alt I'ii. 'I' ■Hi ■/■ i7' vk y4 '• i'^mSHi .4 ?0 S »> I <; <; > o y S V IT, < 'A <^jr\ i J Km 'f^ ^ u. .4 o 3" THE AMERICAN QUAIL, OR VIRGINIA PARTRIDGE. Ortyx Vwgimamis. Pcrdix Yirginianus, November is upon us-heartj, brown, healthful Novem- ber, harbinger of his best jojs to the ardent sportsman, and best beloved to him of all the months of the great annual cycle ; November, with its clear, bracing, west- ern breezes; its sun, less burning, but how far moi3 beautiful than that of fierce July, as tempered now and softened by the rich, golden haze of Indian summer, quenching his torrent rays in its mellow, liquid lustre, and robing the distant hills with wreaths of purple light, half mist, half shrouded sunshine ; November, with its wheat and buckwheat stubbles, golden or bloody red ; with its sere maize leaves rustling in the breeze, whence the quail pipes incessant ; with its gay woodlands flaunt- ing in their many-colored garb of glory ; with its waters more clearly calm, more brilliantly transparent than those of any other season ; November, when the farmer's toils have rendered their reward, and his reaped harvests glut his teeming garners, so- that he too, like the pent n i! I \ Wk 11 254 AMERICAN GAME. N i! 1 II I I denizen of swarming cities, may take liis leisure with his gun " in the wide vale, or by the deep wood-side," and enjoy the rapture of those sylvan sports which he may not participate in sweltering July, in which they are alas ! permitted by ill-considered legislation, in every other state, save thine, honest and honorable Massachusetts.* In truth there is no period of the whole year so well adapted, both by the seasonable climate, and the state of the country, shorn of its crops, and not now to be injured by the sportsman's steady stride, or the gallop of his higli-bred setters, both by the abundance of game in the cleared stubbles and the sere woodlands, and by the aptitude of the brisk, bracing weather, for the endurance of fatigue, and the enjoyment of manful exercise, as this our favorite November. In this month, the beautiful Rufled Grouse, that mountain-loving and man-shunning hermit, steals down from his wild haunts among the giant rhododendrons, * A law was passed, during the spring of the present year, in that respectable and truly conservative State, by which the murder of un- fledged July Woodcock, by cockney gunners, was prohibited ; and the close time judiciously prolonged until September. The debate was remarkable for two things, the original genius with which the Hon. Member for "Westboro' persisted that Snipe are Woodcock, and Wood- cock Snipe, all naturalists to the contrary notwithstanding ; and the pertinent reply to the complaint of a city member, that to abolish July shooting would rob the city sportsman of his sport— viz., that in that case it would give it to the farmer. Marry, say we, amen, bo be it I il II isure with vood-side," which he ;^hich they slation, in honorable ear so well I the state aow to be the gallop !e of game Is, and by r, for the [)f manful onse, that teals down ^dendrons, year, in that lurder of im- ted ; and the ! debate was :ch the Hou. :, and Wood- 'ng ; and the abolish July , that in that , so be it I THE AMERICAN QUAIL. 255 and evergreen rock-calmias^ to nearer woodsldrts, and cedar-brakes margining the red buckwheat stubbles, to be found there by the staunch dogs, and brought to bag by the quick death-shot, " at morn and dewy eve," with- out the toil and torture, often most vain and vapid, of scaling miles on miles of mountain-ledges, struggling through thickets of impenetrable verdure among the close-set stems of hemlock, pine, or juniper, only to hear the startled rush of an unseen pinion, and to pause, breathless, panting, and outdone, to curse, while you gather breath for a renewed effort, the bird which haunts such covert, and the covert which gives shelter to such birds. In this month, if no untimely frost, or envious snow flurry come, premature, to chase him to the sunny swamps of Carolina and the rice-fields of Georgia, the plump, white-fronted, pink-legged autumn "Woodcock, flaps up from the alder-brake with his shrill whistle, and soars away, away, on a swift and powerful wing above the russet tree-tops, to be arrested only by the instinctive eye and rapid finger of the genuine sportsman ; and no longer as in faint July to be bullied and bungled to death by every German city pot-hunter, or every potter- ing rustic school-boy, equipped and primed for murder, on his Saturday's half holyday. In this month, the brown-jacketed American hare, which our folk will persist in calling JRahUt— though, it neither lives in warrens, nor burrows habitually under ff* ' !l 1 il 250 AMEKICAN GAME. ground, and tliongli it breeds not every montli In the year, wliicli are the true distinctive cliaracteristics of tlie EaLbit — is in liis prime of conditions, the leverets of tlie season, plump and well-grown ; and the old bucks and does, recruited after the breeding season, in high health and strength, and now legitimate food for gunpowder, legitimate quarry for the chase of the merry beagles. In this month especially, the Quail, the best-loved and choicest object of the true sportsman's ambition ; the bird which alone affords more brilliant and exciting sport than all the rest beside ; the bravest on the wing, r.nd the best on the board ; the swiftest and strongest flyer of any feathered game ; the most baffling to find, the most troublesome to follow up, and when followed up and found, the most difficult to kill in style ; the beautiful American Quail is in his highest force and feather ; and in this montli, according to the laws of all the States, even the most rigorous and stringent in pres- ervation, killable legitimately under statute. In New York, generally, the close-time for the Quail ends with October, and he may not be slain until the first day of November ; in New Jersey, ortygioide com- mences on the 25th of October, in Massachusetts and Connecticut on some day between the 15th of the past and the first of the present month; in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, where they are something more forward, as breeding earlier in the season than in the Eastern States, on the first of October ; and in TIIE AMEEICAN QUAIL. 257 Canada West, where tlicy are exccc(lino-]y aLundant, on the first of September ; wliich is, for many reasons entirely too early, as hereafter I shall endeavor to' demonstrate. In my own opinion, the first of November, and even the middle of October, are too late for the termination of the Qnail'8 close-time, inasmnch as five-sevenths of the broods in ordinarily forward seasons are fnll-cri^own and strong on the wing, as well as all the crojDs off the ground, by the first of October ; and althongh the late, second, or third broods may be undersized, they are still well able to take care of themselves in case the parent birds are killed ; whereas, on account of their immature size, they are safo from the legitimate shot; and, on . account of their unsaleability in market to the restau- rant, from the poaching pot-shot also. I should, therefore, myself, be strongly inclined to advocate the adoption of one common day, and that dav the first of October, for the close-time of all our upland ganie ; the English Snipe alone excepted. Touching the reasons for postponing the day of Woodcock-shooting, a notice will be found in our July number, and an extend- ed discussion in my Field Sports, vol. I. i3p. 169 to 200. Of the Quail, in regard to this point, I have said enough here, unless this ; that, in my opinion, there is for more need to protect them from the trap during the wintry snows, than from the gun in the early autumn ; the latter cannot possibly at any time exterminate the race ; 'ii;!Ki fm 1^ ;l 253 AilElllCAN CiAMli:. 11 tlic former not only easily may^ but actually does all but uiiiilliilato tlio breed, whenever the snow falls and lies deep during any weeks of December, during the whole of which month the pursuit and sale of this charming little bird is legal. Could 1 have my way, the close-time for Quail should end on the last day of ISeptember; and the shooting season end on the twenty-fourth day of December ; before which date snow now rarely lies continuously in Kew Jersey, Southern Kew York, or Pennsylvania. AVliy I would anticipate the termination of the close- time, in reference to the lluHied GrousO, I shall state at length, when I come to treat of that noble bird, in our December issue ; to which month I have attributed it, because it is then that it is^ though in my opinion, it ought not to he^ moat frequently seen on our tables. While on the topic of preservation, I will mention a fact, which certainly is not widely, much less generally known, among farmers ; namely, that this merry and domestic little bird is one of his best friends and assist- ants in the cultivation of his lands. During nine or ten months of the year he subsists entirely on the seeds of many of the most troublesome and noxious weeds and grasses, which infest the fields, more especially those of the ragwort, the dock, and the briar. It is believed, I might almost say ascertained, that he never plucks any kind of grain, even his owui loved buckwheat when ripe, from the stalk, but only gleans the fallen seeds from the yes all but \ and liu8 ho whole charming ail should shooting >ecember ; luously in iisjlvania. the close- 11 state at rd, in our •ibuted it, ipinion, 'it ur tables, don a fact, generally nerry and md assist- dne or ten 3 seeds of yeeds and y those of relieved, I ilucks any when ripe, s from the THE AMKItlCAN QUAIL. 250 stubbles after harvest, so that while he in nothing dete- riorates tlie harvest to bo ingathcred, he tends in tlie In'ghest degree to the preservation of clean and unweeded fields and farms ; indeed, when it is taken into consider- ation that each individual Quail consumes daily nearly two gills of weed-seed, it will be at once evident that a few bevies of these little birds, carefully and assiduously preserved oji a farm, M-ill do moi-e towards keeping it free of weeds, than the daily annual labor of a dozen farm servants. This preservation M-ill not be counter- acted or injured by a moderate and judicious use of the gun in the autumnal months ; for the bevies need thin- ning, especially of the cock-birds, which invariably out- number the hens, and which, if unable to pair, from a . want of mates, form into little squads or companies of males, which remain barren, and become the deadly enemies of the young cocks of the following year, beat- ing them olf and dispersing them ; though, strange to say, they will themselves never mate again, nor do aught after remaining unpaired during one season, to propagate their species. The use of the trap, on the contrary, destroying whole bevies at a swoop, where the gun, even in the most skillful hands, rarely much more than deci- mates them, may, in a single winter's day, if many traps be set, destroy tlie whole stocking of a large farm for years, if not forever. I have myself invariably remark- ed, since my attention was fh-st called to the fact, that those farms which are best stocked with Quail, are inva- . V !i.t *'i AMKKICAN GAME. riiibly llio cleanest of weeds ; luid ti riyht good nports- man, and good friend of mine, working on the same base jpei' contra^ says that, in driving Ins sliooting-cart and dogs througli a conntrj, lie has never fonnd it worth his while to sto]) and beat a district full of weedy and dirty farms, as such never contain Quail. If this may lead our farmers to consider that every live Quail does far more good on the farm, than the shilliiig earned by his cai)turo in the omnivorous trap ; and therefore to prohibit their sons and farm-boys from extei'- minating them at their utmost need, when food is scarce, and shelter hard to lind, my M-ords will not have been altogether wasted, nor my object nnattained. "Were I a larmer, I would hang it over my kitchen fire-place, inscribed in goodly cai^tals — '^ ^pare the Quail ! If you would have clean fields and goodly crops, spare the Quail ! So shall you spare yonr labor." And now, in a few words, we will on to their nomen- clature, their distinctive marks, their regions of inhabit- ation, seasons, haunts and habits ; and last, not least, liow, when, and' where lawfully, honorably, sportsnumly, and gnostically, you may and shall kill them. I will not, however, here pause long to discuss the point, whether they ought to be termed Quail or Par- tridge. Scientifically and practically they are neither, but a connecting link between the two subgenera. True Partridge, nor true Quail, \Qvy perdix, nor very coturnixy exists at all anywhere in America. Our bird, an inter- d sport 3' uuic l)a.so curt iiiul kvorth Ilia iiiul dirty I very live ) sliiliiiig rap ; and om extei'- is scarce, live been J kitclien pare tlie Uy croj^s, r iiomen- :* iuhaljit- iiot least, rtsmanly, scuss tlio 1 or Par- ) iicitlier, 'a. True coturnix^ an inter- THE AMKKICAN ^iU AIL. 2G1 mediate bird between tho two, named by the naturalists Ort!/x, wliicli IS the Greek term for true (^uuil, is peculiar to America, of which but one species, that before us, is found in the United States, except on the Pacific coast and iu (.Vlilbrnia, where there arc many otiier beautiful varieties. Our bird is known everywhere Kast, and everywhere Northwest of Pennsylvania, and in Canada, as the Quail— everywhere South as the Parfridgo. In size, pluma-o, flight, habits, and cry, it more dosely resembles the European Quail ; in some structural points, especially the shape and solidity of tjie bill, the Euro- pean Partridge. On the whole, I deem it properly termed Amkkican Quail ; bnt whether of the two it shall be called, matters little, as no other bird on this conti- nent can clash with it, so long as we avoid tho ridicule of calling one bird by t^yo different terms, on the oppo- site sides of one river— the Delaware. The stupid blun- der of calling tho Ruffiod Grouse, Pheasant, and Part^ ridge, in the South ard East, is a totally different kind of misnomer ; as that bird bears no resemblance, how- ever distant, to either of the two species, and has a very good English name of his own, videlicet, '' Ruffed or Tippeted Grouse," by which alone ho is known to men of brains or of sportsmanship. With regard to our Quail, it is different, as he has no distinctive English name of his own ; but is, even by naturalists, indiscHm- inately known as Quail and Partridge. The former is certainly the truer appellation, as he approximates more ] \i i 'i mi hi I -u mii 262 AMElilCAN GAAIE. ^ - closely to that siib-gcniis. "We wish mnch that this question conld be settled ; which we fear, now, that it never can be, from the want of any sporting authority^ in the country, to pass judgment. The " Spirit of the Times," though still as well supported and as racy as ever, has, I regret to say, ceased to be an authority, and has become a mere arena wherein for every scribbler to discuss and support his own undigested and crude notions without consideration or examination ; and wherein those who know the least, invariably fancying themselves to know the most, vituperate with all the spite of partisan personality, every person who having learned more by reading, examination of authorities, and experience than they, ventures to erpress an opin- ion differing from their old-time prejudices, and the established misnomers of provincial or sectional vulgar- ism. But to resume, the American Quail, or " Partridge of the South," is too well knpwn throughout the whole of America, from the waters of the Kennebec on the East, and the Great Lakes on the North— beyond which latter except on the South western peninsula of Canada West, lying between Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, they are scarcely to be found— is too well known, almost to the extreme South, to need description. Their beauty, their familiar cry, their domestic habits during the winter, when they become half-civilized, feeding in the barji- yards, and often roosting under the cattle-sheds with the THE AMEEICAN QUAIL. 2G3 poultry, render them familiar to all men, women, boys and fools throughout the regions which they inhabit It is stated by ornithologists, that they abound from l^ova Scotia and the northern parts of Canada to Florida and the Great Osago villages ; but ::his is incorrect as ihey rarely are seen eastward of Massachusetts ; nevelin I^ova Scotia, or Canada East ; and range so far as Texas and the edges of the great American salt desert The adult male bird differs from the hen in having its chaps and a remarkable gorget on the throat and lower neck pure white, bordered with jetty black; which parts in the young male and the adult female, are bright reddish- yellow ; the upper parts of both are beautifully dashed and freckled with chestnut and mahogany-brown, black yellow, .ray, and pure white ; the under p^rts purj white, longitudinally dashed with brownish red and transversely streaked with black arrow-headed marks 'nie colors of the male are all brighter, and more defi- nite, than in the female. Everywhere eastward of the Delaware the Quail is resident, never rambling far from the haunts in which he IS bred. Everywhere to the westward he is in the later autumn migratory, moving constantly on foot, and never flying except when flushed or compelled to cross streams and water-courses, from the west eastward ; the farther west, the more marked is this peculiarity. The Quail pairs early in March ; begins to lay early m May, in a nest made on the surface of the ground 261 AMEEICAN GAME. usually at the bottom of a tussock or tuft of grass, her eggs being pure white, and from ten to thirty-two in number, though about fourteen is probably the average of the bevies. The period of incubation is about four weeks, the young birds run the instant they clip the shell, and fly readily before they have been hatched a fortnight. So soon as the first brood is well on the wing, the cock takes charge of it, and the hen proceeds to lay and hatch a second, the male bird and' first brood remaining in the close vicinity, and the parents, I doubt not, attending the labor of incubation and attending the young. This I have long suspected ; but I saw so many proofs of it, in company of my friend and fellow sports- man, " Dinks," while shooting together near Fort Maiden, in Canada West — where wo found, in many instances, two distinct bevies of different sizes with a single pair of old birds, when shooting early in September of last year — that we were equally convinced of the truth of the fact, and of the unfitness of the season. In October, with the exception of a very few late broods, they are fit for the gun ; and then, while the stubbles are long, and the weeds and grasses rank, they lie the best and are the least wild on the wine:. The earlv mornings and late afternoons are the fittest times for finding them, when they are on the run, and feeding in the edges of wheat and rye stubbles, or buckwheat patches bordering on woodlands. In the middle of the day they either lie up in little brakes and bog-meadows, THE A3IERICAN QUAIL. 2G5 or bask on sandy banks, and craggy liill-sides, when they are collect 3d into little huddles, and are then diffi- cult to iind. As soon as flushed, they pitch into the thickest neighboring covert, whether bog-meadow, briar- patch, cedar-brake, ravine, or rough corn-stubble, they can find, their flight being wild, rapid, and impetuous, but rarely very long, or well sustained. As they unquestionably possess the mysterious power, whether voluntary or involuntary, of holding in their scent, for a short time after alighting, and are diflicultly found again till they have run, I recommend it, as by far the better way, to mark them down well, and beat for another bevy, until you hear them calling to each other ; then lose no time in flushing them again, when they are sure to disperse, and you to have sport with them. Myself, I prefer setters for their pursuit, as more dash- ing, more enduring, and abler to face briars—others prefer pointers, as steadier on less work, and better able to fag without water. Either, well broke, are good— ill broke, or unbroke, worthless. Still give me setters- Russian or Irish specially ! Quail fly very fast, and strong, especially in covert, and require the whole charge to kill them dead and clean. At cross shots, shoot well ahead ; at rising shots, well above ; and at straight-away shots, a trifle below your birds ; and an oz. 4 of Ko. 8 early, and of No. 7, late, will fetch them in good style. And so good sport to you, kind reader ; for this if I err not, is doomed to be a crack Quail season. H^i; I 1 ■ tp :', sii III ri j * ill' ( 1 '. r 'i 111 I' i Uk^ • Hi THE BITTERN. AMERICAN BITTERN. Ardea Minor sive Zentiginos. THE INDIAN HEN. THE QUAWK. THE DUNKADOO. This, though a very common'and extremely beautiful bird, with an exceedingly extensive geographic range, IB the object of a very general and perfectly inexplicable prejudice and dislike, common, it would seem, to all classes. The gunner never spares it, although it is per- Ibctly inoftensive; and although the absurd prejudice to which I ]iave alluded, causes him to cast it aside,' when killed, as uneatable carrion, its flesli is in' reality very delicate and juicy, and still held in high repute in l^uropo ; while here one is regarded very much lii tlie light of a cannibal, as 1 have myself experienced for venturing to eat it. The former and the boatman' stjgmatize it by a lilthy and Indecent name. The cook turns up her nose at it, and throws it to the cat ; for the dog, wiser than his master, declines it— not as unfit to eat, but as game, and therefore meat for l.is masters. ^v:*^^ TERN. MK. Y beautiful liic range, explicable em, to all L it is per- prejudice, t it aside, ish is ill d in h'nAi 'oiy nnich lerienccd, ! boatman Tiio cook ;; for tlio s unfit to sters. «v|5j''"''w/li^^?^^ ! 1 * ■ \i?;|j Nil II: I'v; 'JM I v' i-'li THE BITTERN. AMKRICAN BITTERN. ^'''^'» ■W^f"'"' 9iv€ Lcntiginosa. i 1 ■(«jf «' 1 ' 1 ? , , , 1 (. * I ^A' »f t THE BITTERN". 267 Now the Bittern would not probably be mncli ag- grieved at being voted carrion, provided his imputed carrion-dom, as Willis would probably designate the condition, procured him immunity from the gun. But to be shot first and thrown away afterward, would seem to be the very excess of that condition described by the common phrase of adding injury to insult. Under this state of mingled persecution and degrada- tion, it must be the Bittern's best consolation that, in the days of old, when the wine of Auxerre, now the com- mon drink of republican Yankeedom, which annually consumes of it, or in lieu of it, more than grows of it aimually in all France, was voted by common consent ihe drink of kings — ^lie, with his congener and com- patriot the Ileronschaw, was carved by knightly hands, upon the noble deas under the royal canopy, for gentle dames and peerless damoiselles ; nay, was held in such repute, that it was the wont of prowest chevaliers, when devoting themselves to feats of emprise most perilouK, to swear "before God, the bittern, and the ladies !" an honor to which no quadruped, and but two j)lumy bipeds, other than himself, the heron and the peacock, were admitted. Those were the days, before gunpowder, " grave of chivalry," was taught to Doctor Ftaistus by tlie Devil,* who did himself no good by the indoctrination, but exactly the reverse, since war is thereby rendered less '■A :ili 268 AMERICAN GAME. B' ' bloody, and mncli more imcruel— the days when no booming duck-gun keeled him over with certain and inglorious death, as he flapped up with liis broad vans beating the cool autumnal air, and his long, greenish- yellow legs pendulous behind him, from out of the dark sheltering water-flags by the side of the brimful river, or the dark woodland tarn ; but when the cheery yelp of a cry of feathery-legged spaniels aroused him from his arundinaceous, which is interpreted by moderns reedy, lair J when the triumi^hant whoop of the jovial ftilconers saluted his uprising; and v/hen he was done to death right chivalrously, with honorable law permitted to him, as to the royal stag, before the long-winged Norway falcons, noblest of all the fowls of air, were mihooded and cast off to give him gallant chase. If, when struck down from his pride of place by the crook-beaked blood-hound of the air, his legs were mer- cilessly broken, and his long bill thrust into the ground, that the falcon might dispatch him witnont fear of con- sequences, and at leisure, it was doubtless a source of pride to him, as to the tortured Indian at the stake, to be so tormented, since the amount of the torture was commensurate with the renown of the tortured ; besides —for which the Bittern was, of course, truly grateful— it was his high and extraordinary prerogative to have his legs broken as aforesaid, and his long bill thrust into " the ground, by the ftiir hand of the loveliest lady present —thrice blessed Bittern of the days of old. rlien no tain and )ad vans jreenish- tlie dark river, or elp of a rem his 8 reedy, alconers ;o death to him, Norway ihooded 3 by the 3re mer- ground, of con- 'urce of itake, to ire was besides iteful — ;o have ust into present TUE BI'n'ERN. 269 A very different fate, in sooth, from being riddled with a charge of double Bs from a rusty flint-lock Queen Anne's musket, poised by the horny paws of John Verity, and then ignobly cast to fester in the sun, among the up-piled eel-skins, fish-heads, king-crabs, and the like, with which, in lieu of garden-patch or well- trained rose-bush, the south-side Long Islander orna- ments his front-door yard, rejoicing in the effluvia of the t 'M decomposed piscine exuviae^ which he regards as " considerable hullsome," beyond Sabajan odors, Syrian nard, or frankincense from Araby the blest 1 Being eaten is being eaten after all ; whether it be by a New Zealand war-chief, a New York alderman, a peerless lady, or a muck- worm ; and I suppose it feels much the same, after one is once well dead ; but, if I had my choice, I would most prefer to be eaten by tho damoiselle of high degree, and most dislike to be bat- tened on by the alderman, as beiig more ravenous and less appreciative than either Zealander or muck-worm. The Bittern, however, be it said in sober earnest, although like many other delicious dishes prized by the wiser ancients, but now fallen into disuse, if not into disrepute— to wit, the heronschaw, the peacock, tho curlew, and the swan— all first-rate dainties to the ^^'iso — is a viand not easily to be beaten, especially if he be sagely cooked in a well-baked, rich-crusted pastry, with a tender and fat rump-steak in the bottom of the dish, a beefs kidney scored to make gravy, a handful of cloves, ' '91 ^ 'il 270 AHESICAN GAMK. Bait and black peppor quantamauff.^ a dozen liard-boilcd eggs, and a pint of scalding-hot port wine poured in j ust before you servo np. What you say is perfectly true, my dear madam, cooked in that manner an old India rubber shoe is good ; not only would be, but is. But you'd better believe it, a Bittern is a great deal better. If you don't believe me, try the Bittern, and then if you prefer it, adhere to the shoe. But now to quit his edible qualifications and turn to his j)ersonal appearance, habits of life, and location, and other characteristics, we will say of him, in the words of "Wilson, that eloquent pioneer in the natural history of America, that the American Bittern, whom it pleases the Count de Buffon to designate as LeButor de la Baye de Hudson^ " is another nocturnal species, common to all our sea and river marshes, though nowhere nume- rous. It rests all day among the reeds and rushes, and, unless disturbed, flies and feeds only during the night. In some places it is called the Indian Hen ; on the sea- coast of New Jersey it is known by the name of durika- doo^ a word probably imitative of its common note. They are also found in the interior, having myself killed one at the inlet of the Seneca Lake, in October. It utters at times, a hollow, guttural note among the reeds, but has nothing of that loud, booming sound for which the European Bittern is so remarkable. This circum- stance, with its great inferiority of size, and difference of 1"% TUE linTEllN. ird-boiled 3d in j ust madam, ) is good ; )elievc it, t believe idliere to I turn to tion, and words of listory of t pleases 3 la Baye nmon to fe nume- les, and, lie night. the sea- f dunka- on note. 3lf killed Dber. It lie reeds, or which circum- erence of 271 marking, sufficiently i)rovo them to be two distinct species, although hitherto, the present has been classed as a mere variety of the European Bittern. These birds, wo are informed, visit Severn river at Hudson's Bay, about the beginning of June; make tJieir nests in swamps, laying four cinereous green eggs among the long rfrass. The young are said to be, at first, black. • " These birds, when disturbed, rise with a hollow hwa^ and are then easily shot down as they fly lieavily. Like other night birds, their sight is most acute during the evening twilight ; but their hearing is, at all times, exquisite. "Tlie American Bittern is twenty-seven inches long, and three feet four inches in extent ; from the point of the bill to the extremity of the toes, it measures tln-co feet ; the bill is four inches long ; the upper mandible black ; the lower greenish-jellow ; lares and eyelids, yel- low ; irides, bright yellow ; upper part of the head, flat, and remarkably depressed; the plumage there is of a deep blackish brown, long behind and on the neck, the general color of which is a yellowish brown, shaded with darker ; this long plumage of the neck the bird can throw forward at will, when irritated, so as to give him a more formi- dable appearance ; throat, whitish, streaked with deep brown : from the posterior and lower part of the auricu- lars, a broad patch of deep black passes diagonally across the neck, a distinguished characteristic of this species ; the back is deep brown, barred, and mottled with innu- ^1 '■ ! ;i 272 AMKKICAN GAME. morablo specks and streaks of brownLsli yellow ; quills, black, with a leaden gloss, and tljtped with yellowish brown ; legs and leet, yellow, tinged with pale green ; middle claw, pectinated; belly, light yellowish brown, Btreaked with darker; vent, plain ; thighs, sprinkled on the outside witli grains of dark brown ; male and female nearly alike, the latter somewhat less. According to liewlck, the tail of the European Bittern contains only ten feathers ; the American species has, invariably, twelve. The intestines measured five feet six inches in lengtli, and were very little thicker than a common knittinir- needle ; the stomach is usually fdled with fish or frogs.* *' This bird, when fat, is considered by many to bo excellent eating." It is on the strength of Mr. Wilson's statement as above that I have given among the vulgar aiDpellations of this beautiful bird that of Duiikadoo ; though I must admit that I never heard him called a Dunkadoo^ either on the sea-coast of New Jersey or any where else ; and further must put it on record, that if the sea-coasters of New Jersey did coin the said melodious word as {mita- the of its common note, they i)roved much worso imita- tors than I have found them in whistling bar t-.ri*]H', hawnking Canada geese, or yelping Brant. Tliey might just as well have called him a Cockatoo, while they were about it. * I have tj.lrct: anentive water-rail from the stomach of the European Bittern.— Tn. THE niTTEItN. 273 The otl icr name, Qnawk, by whicli it is generally known both on the sea-coast of Kew Jersey, and every \vhero else where the vernacuhir of Anieriea ])revail.s, is precisely inutative of the harsh clanging cry with which he rises iron, the reeds in wliich he lurks during the day time; «nd which he utters while disporting himself in queer clumsy gyralions in mid air, over the twilight marshes in the dusk of summer evenings; and hownJlr- ly Quawh approaches to Bunhadoo, that one of my readers who is the least appreciative of the comparative value of sweet sounds, can judge as well as I can. In England the Bittern, who there is possessed of a voice between the sounds of a bassoon and a kettle-drum, with whicli he makes a most extraordinary booming noise, which can be heard for miles, if not for leagues'^ over the midnight marshes, a noise the most melancholy and unearthly that ever shot superstitious horror into the bosom of the belated wayfarer, who is unconscious of Its cause, has also been designated by the country people from his cry, "the bog-bumper," and tlie " blut- tery bump"--but as our bird-the United States./-, I mean, or Alleghanian, as the Kew York Historical So- ciety Associates would designate their countrymen— Bittern never either booms, blutters or bumps, but only quawks ; a quawk only he must be content to remain, whether with the sea-coasters of New Jersey, the south' siders of Long Island, or my friends, the Ojibwas of Lake Huron. 12* If ill I i i i* i i ?! '^I f'' ' - '\ ,* ^ lii iU w o 11 Ili HI' 11 274 AMERICAN GAME. In another respect I cannot precisely agree with the acute and observing naturalist quoted above, as to its ungregaiious nature, since on more occasions tliar one I Lave seen these birds together in such nuLibers, and under such chcunisuinces of association, as would cer- tainly justify the application to them of the word/oc/j. One of these occasions I icmember well, as it occurred while snipe-shooting on the fine marshes about the riviere aux Canards in Canada West, when several times I saw as many as five or six flush together from out of the higli reeds, as if in coveys ; and this was late in September, so that they could not well have been young broods still under the parental care. At another time I saw them in yet greater numbers and acting together, as it appeared, in a sort of concert. I was walking, I cannot now recollect why, or to what end, along the marshes on the bank of the Ilackensack river, between the railroad bridge and that very singular knoll named Snakehill, which rises abruptly out of the meadows like an island out of the ocean. It ^i as late in the summer evening, the sun had gone quite down, and a thick gray mist covered the broad and gloomy river. On a sudden, I was almost startled by a loud quaicJc close above my iiead ; and, on looking up, observed a large Bittern wheeling round and round, now soaring up a hundred feet or more, and then suddenly diviu"-. or to speak more accurately, /<:^ZZ%, plump down, with his legs and wings all relaxed and abroad, precisely as if ho THE BITTERX. 275 had been shot dead, uttering at the moment of each dive a loud quawlc. While I was still engaged in watching his manoeuvres, he was answered, and a second Bittern came floating through the darksome air, and joined his companion. Another and another fol- lowed, and within ten or twelve minutes, there must have been from fifteen to twenty of these large birds all gamboling and disporting themselves together, circling round one another in their gyratory flight, and making the night any thing, certainly, but melodious by their clarnors. What was the meaning of those strange noc- turnal movements I cannot so much as gaess ; it was not early enough in the spring to be connected in any way with the amatory propensities of the birds, or I should have certainly set it down, like the peculiar flight, the unusual chatter, and the drumming, performed with the quill-feathers, of the American Snipe— ^6'(?%«.y ^*'^*^^^*^'— commonly known as the English snipe, dur- ing the breeding season, as a preliminary to incubation, nidification, and the reproduction of the species— in a word, as a sort of bird courtship. The season of the year put a stoj^per on that interpretation, and I can con- ceive none other than that the Quaii^hs were indulging themselves in an innocent game of romps, preparatorp to the more serious and solemn enjoyment of a fish and frog supper. The Bittern, it appears, on the Severn river, emptying into Hudson's Bay, makes its nest in th e 1 ong grass of Ji ii ff 1 1 m 1 1 f i I '1 isiGiiil! . i' ||i jpl ^ ll itf' IK:jj fii p ? i ,i 1 } '■ ^ ■: •■ '- I ' 1 .' «r 276 AMElilCAN G(A.aiE. I' ^ IS' |i ' tlio marshes, and there lays its eggs and rears its black downy young ; but several years ago, while residing at I3angor, in Maine, while on a visit to a' neighboring heronry, situated on an island covej-ed with a dense forest of tall pines and hemlocks, I observed a pair of Bitterns flying to and fro, from the tree-tops to the river and back, with fieh in their bills, among the herons which were similarly engaged in the same interesting occupation of feeding their young. One of these, the male bird, I shot, for the purpose of settling the flict, and we afterward harried the nest, and obtained two full-grown young birds, almost ready to fly. Hence, I presume, that, like many other varieties of birds, the Bittern adapts his habits, even of nidification, to the purposes of the case, and that where no trees are to be found, in which he can breed, he makes the best he can of it, and builds on the ground ; but it is my opinion that his more usual and preferred situation for his nest is in high trees, as is the case with his congeners, the Green Bittern, the blue heron, the beautiful white egret, the night heron, which may be all found breeding together in hundreds among tlie red cedars on the sea beach of Cape May. The nest, which I found in Maine, was built of sticks, precisely similar to that of the herons. The Bittern is a more nocturnal bird than the heron, and is n'fever seen, like him, standing motionless as a gray stoue, with his long slender neck recurved, his javelin- irs its black residing at neighboring ^tli a dense d a pair of to tlie river tlie herons interesting f tliese, the ig the fact, )tuined two varieties of lidification, 10 trees are the best he my opinion r his nest is i, tlie Green ) egret, the ig together a beach of Elaine, was e herons. the heron, 3S as a gray lis javelin- TIIE BirrERN. 277 like bill poised for the stroke, and his keen eye piercing the ransparent water in search of the passing f' ^ h ^on,.he IS a clever and indefatigable mouser: but when the evening con.es, he besth-s hhnsclf, spreads 1 byoa V,,, .,,,3 in air, summoning up Ms Jnrades ly his hoarse clang, and wings his way over the dim mousses, to the banks of some neigll,., ,.lf ^ pool, where he watches, erect sentinel, for the passin. jBh, shiners, small eels, or any of the lesser tribes of tl.: stroke of his sharp-pointed bill, dealt with Parthian death to the unfortunate. Mr Gh-aud, in his excellent book on the birds of Lo„. Is^nd h„s speaks of the American Bittern, and that si thfu y and agreeabl,. witha,, tl^at I make no apology for quoting l„g words at lengtli. °^ "Tins species is said to l.ave been the favorite bird of Ac Indians, and at this day is known to many persons by he name of .Indian Hen," or " Puliet," thong, moe femiharly by the appellation of "Look-np.-to c.^^d from Its habit, when standing on the mars s e ovatmg its head, wliioh position, thongh probably a'lopted as a precautionary measure, frequently lea ' o ■ts destruction. The gunners seem to \avo 'a stng ■ j ■ ' „ i 1^: i i p i; n I if 1 ^n I" 1 li s;v If] 11 A I' i?) u I .! {$■ '1 ^ u ^''. .^J } i Hi I toil 278 AMERICAN GAME. prejudice against this unofFending bird, and whenever opportunity offers, seldom allow it to escape. It does not move about much by day, though it is not strictly nocturnal, but is sometimes seen flying low over the meadow, in pursuit of short-tailed or meadow-mice, which I have taken whole from its stomach. It also feeds on fish, frogs, lizards, etc. ; and late in the season, its flesh is in high esteem — but it cannot be procured in any number except M'hen the marshes are overflowed by unusually high tides, when it is hunted much after the manner the gunners adopt when in pursuit of rail. On ordinary occasions, it is diflicult to flush ; the instant it becomes aware that it has attracted the attention of the fowler, it lowers its head and runs quickly through the grass, and when again seen, is usually in a different direction from that taken by its pursuer, whose move- ments it closely watches; and when thus pursued, seldom exposes more than the head, leading the gunner over the marsh without giving him an opportunity to accomplish his purpose. "When wounded, it makes a vigorous resistance, erects the feathers on the head and neck, extends its wings, opens its bill, and assumes a fierce expression— Avill attack the dog, and even its master, and when defending itself, directs its acute bill at its assailant's eye. It does not usually associate with other herons, nor does it seem fond of the society of its own species. TDE BITTEEIf. 279 Singly or in pairs it k distributed over the marshes, but with us It IS not abundant." Tlie geographical range of this bird is, as I have befo,.e stated very extensive, extending W the shores of Hudson s Bay, ,n the extreme north, so far south at least as to the Cape of Florida, and probablv yet farther down the eoasts of the Mexican gulfs " That fanciful blockhead, the Count de Buffon-for ho r :" '"°^' f.'"'«'"y '^'"ckl'oad when he set hhnself d aw,ng on h.s imagination for faets-with his usual ^o,ue„t absurdity, describes the species as " exhibiting he peture of wretchedness, anxiety and indigence • condemned to struggle perpetually ,vith mise.y and want ; s.elcened with the restless cravings of a famished uppeft ; a description so ridiculously unfue, that were 't possible for these birds to comprehend it, it would excite the risibility of the whole tribe If the count had seen the Quawks, as I did, at their l"g 1 Jinks, by the Hackensack, he would have scarce written such follv and l.n.l i,„ i, ,. , loiiy , ana Jiad he been a little more of a nie philosopher, and thorough naturalist, he would have CO iprehen ed that whatsoever being the Universa C ea o hath created unto any end-to that end he adapted hnn, not in his physical structure only, but in Jis instincts, his appetites, his tastes, his pleasures and - pains ; and that to the patient Bittern, motionless on Puisuit of the small bird to the faleon, of the rabbit to •Hi m i « (t '' I !i 4i 'l^ l 280 AMERICAN GAME. I the fox, of the hare to the greyhound, of all the animals devoured to all the devourers ; and that his frog diet is as dear to Ardea Lentlginosa^ as his flower dew to the humming-bird, or his canvas-backs, in the tea-room, to an alderman of Manhattan. As for the Bittern starving, eat a fat one in a pie, and you'll be a better judge of that probability, than any Buffon ever bred in France ; and as for all the rest — it is just French humbug. At another opportunity, I may speak of others of this interesting tribe. Sportsmen rarely go out especially to hunt them, except in boats, as described by Mr. Giraud, but in snipe and duck-shooting in the marshes they are constantly flushed and shot. Pointers and setters will both stand them steadily, and cocking spaniels chase them wath ardor. Their flight is slow and heavy, and their tardy movements and large size render them an easy mark even to a novice. They are not a hardy bird, as to the bearing off^ shot ; for the loose texture of their feathers is more than ordinarilv penetrable, and a light charge of No. 8, will usually bring them down with certainty. When wing-tipped they fight fiercely, striking with their long beaks at the eyes of the assailant, whether dog or man, and laying aside resistance only with their lives. Early in the autumn is the best time both for shooting him and eating him, and for the latter purpose he is the animals ! frog diet is ' dew to the tea-room, to n a pie, and y, than any the rest — it THE BITTERN. 281 better than for the former; but for the noLle art of ful- corny, the mystery of rivers, he is the best of all ^^lum facde princeps ; easily the Topsawyer of the birds of flight, unless it be his cousin german heronshaw, whom the princely Dane knew from a hawk, when the winct was nor-nor-west. 'thers of this 3specially to Mr. Giraud, hes they are steadily, and heir flight is 8 and large, vice. They lot ; for the 1 ordinarily will usually triking with mt, whether y with their for shooting irpose he is i v,!||!, \W 'i }: h ■ f |: ,1,; n i w m XL NOVEMBER. Uetmo Umlellua. THE PHEASANT ; THE PARTRIDGE. LABRADOR i BRITISH POSSESSIONS, UNITED STATES. Perca Flavescius. CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA. i: "(M ■•■■ yt •M it r HtpM" LI f n^'il i. ^'PI ■ i li' ''1 Imi ■ M f HHOj ^Bh^^H 'i ^^H ^■I^^S ^H pUfflB i B jwiii 1 . ^ u u THE RUFFED GROUSE Tetvao Umldlus. TiiE beautiftil bird which is depicted above, is that known as the Partridge, in New Jersey, and all the states east and north of the Delaware, and as the Pheas- ant everywhere to the westward of that fine stream ; and by these provincial vulgarisms it is like to be known and designated, until sportsmen will take the trouble of acquiring a little knowledge of their own trade, and will cease to regard naturalists as mere theorizing bookmen and scientific names and distinctions as supererogatory humbug. The distinction between tlie Grouse and other birds of the gallinaceous order, is that the former are invariably, the latter never, feathered below the knee This distinction never fails, and is very easily noted ; although, in diff-erent species of the genus, the extent of the feathering differs. In the Ruffed Grouse the soft fleecy feathering of the leg is sparse, and descends only to the middle of the shank. In the Pinnated Grouse Prairie Hen of the West, and Grouse of Pennsylvania,' ' JNew Jersey, and Rhode Island, the legs are feathered Ml H \ '.: I 1.11 It !|;: M: hi ^g( Jh", pi 286 AJtrEEICAN G.UVIE. the whole way down tlie shank, to the insertion of the toes ; and the same is the case of the Canada Grouse, or Spruce Partridge of the remote Eastern States. In all those species of Grouse, which are known as Ptarmigan, dwellers of the extreme north, or in the northern tem- perature of iced mountain-tops, the feathering continues the whole length of the toes quite to the insertion of the claws — this I merely mention par parenthese^ as there is but one of the Ptarmigans likely to fall within reach of the sportsman ; namely, the Willow Grouse, or Eed- Necked Partridge of the extreme parts of Maine, and the Easternmost British provinces, and thence so far as to the Arctic Circle. These distinctions are easily borne in mind, and will be found all-sufficient to the discriminating woodsman, who desires to be able to call things by their right names, and to give a reason for doing so. The trice Pheasant is a native of Asia originally, though it has been naturalized in Europe, since a very early period, and is now abundant in France and Eng- land. No species of this bird, which is distinguished by a pointed tail above half a yard in length, and by its splendidly gorgeous coloring, little inferior in intensity to that of the Peacock, has ever been found, or is believed to exist in any portion of the Western hemis- phere ; although those singular and showy birds, the Curagoas of South America, have some relation to it. j.ixC uttiiiv ii3 U iiv Krx Liic t GUiO xaxuiUgU j iULHUUgii lUU TIIE BUFFED GKOUSE. iertion of the la Grouse, or atcs. In all s Ptarmigan, orthern tem- ng continues sertion of the ?<3, as there is hin reach of ise, or Eed- r Maine, and ice so far as ind, and will g woodsman, right names, % originally, since a very ice and Eng- inguished by ., and by its in intensity found, or is stern hemis- y birds, the ition to it. -Til ^- O. _ ULHUUgU lUU 287 Quail of this continent would seem to be its equivalent • Wng as U were a connecting link between the Euleau Qnail, and the Partridge of Europe ^ The E„ffed Grouse ranges over a very wide portion of the United States and British provinces, frorttllst degree of north latitude to the AtuL- althono-h it fc , Atlantic sea-board, a though ,t >s much more scarce in the Southern State beltaTr'^"'"^"'^™'^^'-^- ^'--^- northward bemg comparatively dull and gray, to those of Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and more genL r g o " The d.stmct.ve feature, whence this bird derLs his title of iBY-<^rfG,„„3,_i3 the tuft or tippet of jet-black feathers, glossed with metallic hues, wLh ae sh wn more or less distinctly i„ each of the figures in tie it in the"1 .1 "'""'^'^' '^ ^"'"^-^ - ^ f^"- og, n the act of drumming, with d,ese ruffs elevated and his tail erected and expanded after the mannlof a' Turkey or Peacock, in the season of his amorous phi This drumming, a sound sufficiently familiar to all ears accustomed to the sights and noises of the forest I 0 less than the call of the male bird to his harem of attendant wives; for the Ruffed Grouse, unlike our Fetty, constant, and domestic Quail, selects himself no on. fond partner, whom to cheer with his loved notes to -mf„r. and amuse during the breeding season, but ii I 2SS AMERICAN GAME. rejoices like a veritable grand Signor in a mnltiplicity of fair sultaiias, wliom so soon as tliey betake themselves to the cares of maternity, he abandons, like Siro'uc as he is, and passes the remainder of the season, until the broods disperse in the autmnn, in company with small packs of his own faithless sex, reveling and enjoying himself on the mc ntain sides, in his loved pines and hemlocks, while his forgotten loves brood patient over the hopes of the coming season. " This drumming," says "Wilson, in his eloquent and animated page, " is most common in spring, and is the call of the cock to a favorite female. It is produced in the following manner : the bird, standing on an old pros- trate log, generally in a retired situation, lowers his wings, erects his expanded tail, contracts his throat, elevates the two tufts of feathers on the neck, and inflates Iiis whole body something in the manner of a Turkey cock strutting and wheeling about in great state- liness. After a few manoeuvres of this kind, lie begins to strike his stiifened wings in short and quick strokes, which become more and more rapid until they run into each other, resembling the rumbling sound of very distant thunder dying away gradually on the ear. After a few minutes' pause, this is again repeated, and in a calm day may be heard nearly a mile off. Tliis is most common in the morning and evening, though I have heard them drumming at all hours of the day." It is singular, that so exact an authority cs Wilson THE BUFFED OEOUSE. 2Si) iltiplicity of liemselves to 'oiie as lie is, il the broods lall packs of ^ himself on d hemlocks, the hopes of iloquent and ^, and is the produced in L an old pros- , lowers his 3 his throat, 3 neck, and manner of a n great state- id, he begins [uick strokes, ;hey run into and of very le ear. After ed, and in a Tliis is most ongli I have lay." ty as Wilson has proved himself to be, should fall into the strange error of speaking of this singular amorous sound as^'a call to a simjle female ; and elsewhere of the Pheasant, as he erroneously calls it, pairing ; when it is notorious to all who have closely observed the habits of this bird, that it is polygamous. Such, I believe, will be found the case with all those gallinaceous birds which have an especial summons, or peculiar display of attitudes, airs, and splendors by which to attract the females ; as may be observed of the common Game-cock, the Turkey, the Peacock, and the European Pheasant ; no one of which takes to himself an especial and chosen partner, but disports himself in his wanton seraglio. On many occasions, during this particular season, I have stolen up to within a few yards of the log, whereon the Ruifed Grouse was so busily employed fn summoning his dames and demoiselles around him, that he had no ears or eyes for my approach, which at any other period he would have discovered long before, and whirred away tumultuous on terrified and sounding pinions. I have lain concealed, for an hour at a time"^ watching with intense gratification the beautifiil and animated gestures of the cock, now strutting and drum- ming on his log, proud as an eastern despot, now descending to caress and dally with his numerous Hoxa- lanas, and then reascending to his post of pride, to send Ills resonant call far through the haunted echoes of^ the umbrageous pine-woods. On one sucli chance, I sa4 no '■ i 'lli' I: 290 AMERICAN GAME. III! less than seven lien birds gathered around a single male, all in turn expectant of his looked-for attentions, and all gratified by a share of his notice. K this be not Polygamy, I should like to receive the Grand Turk's opinion on the subject, as I confess myself, if it be any thing less, in a state of absolute benightedness. The Kuffed Grouse begins lier nest very early in May, and lays from eight to fifteen brownish-white, unspotted eggs, nearly the size of those of a pullet. With the exact period of this bird's incubation I am not acquaint- ed ; the young birds run the instant they clip the shell ; obey the cluck of the mother, as chickens that of the hen ; and are tended by her with extreme care and solicitude. In casu of her being surprised with her young about her, she resorts to all the artifices practiced by the Quail, and even by the comparatively dull and stolid Woodcock, to draw away the intruder from the vicinity, feigning lameness, and incapacity to fly, until she shall have lured away the pursuer far from the hiding-place of her fledglings. Then she shall whirr away on resonant and powerful pinions, up, up above the tops of the tall pines and hemlocks, and thence skate homeward noio^less on balanced wings, where she will find them close ensconced among the sheltering fern tufts, or the matted winter-greens and whortleberry bushes, viewless to the most prying eye, and undiscover- able, save to the nose of the unerring spaniel. But once returned, you shall see them emerge, chirping ngle male, ns, and all lis be not md Turk's it be any 3. ly in May, unspotted With the : acquaint- the shell ; liat of the care and with her ; practiced ' dull and ' from the > fly, until from the lall whirr up above ence skate e she will ring fern ortleberry ndiscover* tiiel. But chirping THE RUFFED GE0U8E. 291 feebly at tlie soft maternal cluck, and Imrrjing to enshroud tlicm under the slielter of her guardian wing, and nestle, happy younglings, among the downy plumag'L' of her maternal breast. Curses upon the sacrilegious hand that would interrupt that sweet and tender scene by the sharp click of the murderous trigger ; yet there be brutes, in the guise of men, who scruple not to butcher the drumming cock, taken at fatal disadvantage, amid his admiring harem ; scruple not to slaughter the brooding mother above her miserable younglings— but to such we cry avaunt ! to such we deny the name of sportsmen, nay, but of Christians, or of men. Get ye behind u«; murderous pot-hunters ! The young broods grow rapidly ; and by the time they havo reached the size of the Quail, % well and strongly on the wing. Ey the middle, or latter end of August, they are three parts grown, and fully feathered, with the exception yf the tail, which is not yet complete, and retains a pointed form. The blundering legislation of this country in general, on the subject of the game-laws, has, in this instance, to my ideas, exceeded itself; for during the months of September and October, when the broods are still united under the care of the mother, the birds lying well to the setter, and when flushed scatter- ing themselves singly here and there among low under- growth or bushes, and rarely or never taking to the tree, we are prohibited from shooting this bold, hardy, ramb- ling, and shy bird ; this, at a later season, wild hunter • liil p 1 ml (J I 292 AMEKICxVN GAME. of inaccessible rock-ledges, impenetniLlo rliododcndron brakes, and deep sequestered lienilock-swamps ; tliis, tlie most uncomatable and self-protecting bir 1 of all the vari- eties of American game ; the only variety, perhaps, which never can by any means, ." • unfair, bo exter- minated from among us, so loii^; as the rock-ribbed mountains tower toward the skies, and the forests clothe them with foliage never sere. At this period they would afford rare sport, as at all other seasons they afford none ; and are, moreover, in far the best condition for the table, as the old birds are apt to be dry, unless hung up for several weeks before being cooked, which can, of course, only be done in winter, when the coldness of the weather prevents their becom- ing tainted, without absolutely freezing them. In my opinion, therefore, this the only bird, of Ameri- can game, which might well exist apart from almost all protection, is now so protected as to be almost rendered impossible to the gun oC the fair sportsman ; while for others, the tamest, the most easily killed, and the most rapidly decreasing of all our winged tribes, as the Wood- cock, for example, the mock protection afforded to them is but another word for the license to slaughter them half-fledged and half-grown, while the second brood is yet in the black-down, and unable to exist without the parent's care. I would myself desire to see the legitimate season for "Ruffed Grouse-shooting made to commence with the first )cloclendron 3 ; tliis, tlie all the vari- ^, perhaps, *, be exter- •ock-ril»bed •ests clothe t, as at all over, in far ^ds are apt )fore being in winter, eir becom- of Ameri- almost all : rendered while for I the most the Wood- ed to them hter them i brood is ithout the season for th the first THE BUFFED GKOUSE. 293 day of September, the young birds by tiiat time, and in truth much earlier, being quite fit for the gun, and to cease on the fifteenth of Decen.ber, or at Christmas at the latest, before the snows of winter admit of their being snared and trapped by thousands. Toward the middle of October, the old hens drive off t\e broods, or tlie young birds now perfectly mature, stray from them of their own accord ; and thenceforth ^»ey are found sometimes in little companies of two three, or four, but far more often singly, in wild, difiicult upland woods, through which they love to ramble devmusly for miles, as they are led in search of their favorite food, or sometimes, as it would seem, by mere whim. On one occasion, many years since, M-hen I was but a young sportsman on this side of the Atlantic I remember footing a small party of five birds, in a light snow, for above ten miles among the Wawayanda moun- tains, in Orange County, New York, without getting up to them ; although it ^xas easily seen by their hun-ied and agitated tracks that for a great part of the distance they were within hearing of me, and were running from my pursuit. I had no dogs with me. Had I been out with setters, the Grouse would have trailed them for miles, and unquestionably risen at last out of shot. With spaniels, or curs, trained to run in upon them, and pursue, yelping loudly, as the mode is in the backwoods where men do not shoot but ,jun, they would have taken to the trees, and would have sat close to the trunk with I I ^'■n III k 1^ Ml: 11 3 •: 294 AMEIJICAN GAME. H their bodies erect, cand their necks elongated, and might have been killed easily, the only difficulty being tliat of perceiving them, a difficulty far more considerable than would be imagined to 'an nn])racticed eye. To shoot birds sitting, however, whether on trees or on the ground, is not sport for a sportsman ; the oidy case where it is ever allowaUe, is to the woodsman on a tramp througli the primitive and boundless forest, where his camp- kettle nmst be filled by the contents of his bag, and where to throw away a chance is, perhaps, in the end to go sujoperless to bed. In such a case, while canoeing it last Autumn " with a goodly companye" up the northern rivers that debouch into lake Huron, we shot many, while portaging around cataracts or i-apids on the Severn ; and on one occasion a gentleman of the party shot three birds, out of one small pine tree, without any of them moving or ai^pearing alarmed at the gun-shots. This has often been related as a constant and ordinary habit of the bird; and from that occurrence, I am induced to believe that when the bird is in its natural solitudes, unacquainted with man and his murderous weapons, such may be the case ; in the settlements, however it might have been when they were rare and sparse, this is the habit of the Ruffed Grouse no longer. I have never in my life, save in the instance mentioned, observed anytliing of the kind ; on tlie contrary, I have ever found them the wildest, the most wary, and unless, TUE BUFFED GROUSE. 295 by some mere chance, the least approacliable of all wild birds. During the latter autumn, they eschew flat, bushy tracts, and even swamps with heavy thickets, their instinct probably telling them that in such covert they are liable to be taken napping. If, however, one have the fortune to find them in such tracts, he is likely to have sport over setters ; and in no other sort of ground do I deem that possible, as the law now stands. Once, many years since, sporting in the heavy thorn-brakes around Pine Brook, in New Jersey, I found them with a friend in low underwood, and we had great sport, bag- ging eight brace of Euffod Grouse over points, in addi- tion to some eighteen or twenty brace of Quail. In general, however, they frequent either open groves of tall, thrifty timber, with a carpet of wintergreens, cranberries and whortleberries, which constitute their favorite food ; or the steep mountain-ledges, under the interlaced branches of tall evergreen trees, among brakes of mountain rhododendron, or, as it is commonly called, though erroneously, laurel. In both these species of ground, all being clear below, the birds can hear and see the sportsman long before he can approach them, and take wing, for the most part, entirely out of gun-shot range. If, however, they are surprised unawares, they have a singular tact of dodging behind the first bush, or massive trunk, and flying oflf in a right line, keep- ing the obstacle directly between the sportsman and 11 ■If iii; '1i* i mi i ii SI. iH iilr •" ji ■ I 29G AMEltlCAN GAME. t i tliemselves, so as to frustnito all Ins efforts to obtain a shot ; this I have seen done so often as to satisfy mo that it is the result, not of cliancc, but of a delibcrato instinct. The Ruifcd Grouse rises, at first, when surprised, Avith a heavy whirring and laborious flutter, and if taken at that moment within range, is easily shot ; he rises for the most part a little higher than the head of a tall man, and goes away swift and strong nearly in a horizontal line. If struck behind, he will carry away a heavy load of shot, and he has a trick of flying mitil his breath leaves him in the air, and then falls dead before he strikes the ground. Occasionally he towers up with the wind, and then setting his wings, skates down before it at a prodigious rate, withont moving a feather; and if you get a'lhot at him, gentle reader, under such circum- stanc^es, crossing you at long range, bo sure that you shoot two, or, by 'r lady, three feet ahead of him, or you may cut oft' his extreme tail-feathers, but of a surety kill him you shall not. Tlie Paifted Grouse usually flies in a perfectly right line, so that if you flush one without getting a shot, and can 'preserve his lino exactly, you may find him, if he have not treed, which it is ten to one he has ; wherefore I advise you not to follow him. The exception to this ricrht line of flight, is when the ground is broken into rid-es with parallel ravines, in which case the bird, on crossing a ridge at right angles, will rarely cross the obtain a at i sty mo Iclibcrtito isccl, Avlth taken at 3 rises for , tall num, horizontal Lcavy load lis breath before lie 3 with the 1 before it r; nnd if }li circum- ) that you im, or you surety kill jctly right I shot, and him, if he wherefore ion to tliis roken into he bird, on r cross the THK RUFFED GROUSE. 297 ravine also, but will dive up or down, as the covert may invite. "When birds Ho in narrow ravines, filled with good covert, by throwing the guns forward on the brow of tlio ridges a lumdred yards ahead of the, dogs, which must be left behind with a person to hunt and restrain them, and letting the S2:)0rtsmcn carefully keep that distance in advance, going very gingerly and silently, sport may bo had ; and so I think only — especially over slow, mute, cocking spaniels, for as the birds, after running before the dogs, will be likely to take wing abreast of, or per- haps even behind the unexpected shooter, who has thus stolen a march on tlieni, and as they rarely, if ever, cross the ridges, but fly straight along the gorge, they so aftbrd fair shots. For my o^vn part, I do not consider it worth the while, as the law nov;- stands, to go out in i)ursuit of Ruffed Grouse with dogs, where you expect to find no other S2)ecies of game ; for, in the first place, they ramble so widely, that there is no certainty of finding them Avithin ten miles of the spot where you may have seen them daily for a month ; and, secondly, if you do find thorn, there is no certainty of having sport with them, but rather a probability of reverse. As an adjunct to other kinds of shooting they are excellent, but as sole objects of pursuit, I think, Avorthless. I have often blundered on them by chance while hunting for other game ; but •if IMi i' u 1 ^ll I i i i. I- If 298 AMKJtICAN GAME. -when 1 luivo gone out cxprt'ss^ly In pursuit of tliem, I have never liacl oven tolerable sport. If the law were altered, and September sliooting per- mitted, the case would he altered also; and in many regions of onr country, as the Kaatskill MountaniH, and some parts of Columbia and Saratoga counties, in New York ; the Pocono Mountains, and the Blue Eidge, gen- erally, in Pennsylvania ; and many districts of Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Ithode Island, rare sport might be had. For September shooting, No. 8 shot will bo found sufficient ; but after that. No. 7 ; and very late in the season, Eley's wire cartridges will bo found the most effective. Tills widely extended bird is too well know to require any peculiar description ; and I shall content myself with observing, in aid of my portraiture of the Ruffed Grouse, that the upper part of its head and hind neck are reddish-brown, the back rich chestnut, mottled with heart-shaped spots of white, edged with black. The tail is bright reddish-yellow, barred and speckled with black, and bordered by a broad, black belt between two narrow white bands, one at the extremity of the tail. The iris of the eye hazel, bill brown, feet brownish gray. Loral band cream color. Throat and fore-neck, brown- ish-yellow. Tapper rufi-feathers barred with brown, "VVinirs brownish-red, streaked with black. Breast and abdomen cream colored, closely barred abc'^e, and late- rally spotted below, with dark chocolate. Length 18 THE BUFFED 0E0U8E. 299 )f til em, I oting per- in many tains, and 8, in New idge, gcn- of Maine, rare sport ? sliot will I very late fou!id the inches, spread of wings 2 feet. The Rufted Grouse is a capital bird on the table. Tlio br ast white meat, back and thighs brown. It should be roasted quickly, eaten with bread sauce and fried crumbs, and washed down with sherry or red wiue. •'> li M ij f.' ■ to require [it myself he Ruffed bind neck ttled with The tail klcd with ween two f the tail, nisli gray. ik, brown- ill brown. Jreast and , and late- >.engtli 18 i ih i 4 Ifl ' I' 1 ;|mI iij lli M \& i' THE PERCH. The Yellow Percli ; Peroa Jlavescens. This fine fish, wliich belongs to the family Percoidm, of the division Acantlwjyterygii, or tliornj-finned, is the common porch of the waters of the United States; ranging from the extreme east to the extreme west of the continent; from the streams and pools of ]^ova Scotia and Xew Brunswick, to the feeders of Lake Supe- rior and the northern tributaries of the Canadian lakes. To the northward, it is n.ot found in the rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean or Hudson's Bay, and its southern limit is ill-defined, and can scarcely be ascertained, ex- cept by personal inspection ; since the denizens of the southern waters have been disfigured by appellations, local, provincial, and most unscientifical, so barbarous as to defy the most intelligent inquirer. The title of the division Acanthopterygli, or tJiorny- finned, is founded on the principle tliat every genus ami sub-genus thereof has one or more of the fins supported ly Percoido3f inned, is the litccl States; !ine west of ols of ]^ova f Lake Supe- idian lakes. Lvers flowinof its southern ertalned, ex- izens of the ai^peUations, 0 barbarous ^, or tliorny- y genus and s supj'orted THE PF.ECII. 801 on, or preceded by, &trong, sharp spines, capable of inflicting a severe wound, and forming a very efficient weapon of defense, so that the boldest and most vora- cious of fishes rarely venture to seize them. All the genera have two dorsal fins — the first, or foremost, of which is invariably supported on spines, as opposed to soft branched rays ; while the second, or hindmost, is of soft texture, preceded by one or more hard spines— two pectoral fins, both soft-rayed — one ventral, and one anal, each of which is often preceded by one or more spines — and one caudal, or tail fin, which is the main propell- ing power of the animal. On the number of the hard spines supplementary to the soft fins, are founded the different families ; and on the number of spines in the first dorsal, the dental system, and some other parts of the bony structure, the lesser, or individual distinctions. On color, as distinctive of genera, or even varieties, little or no reliance can be placed, unless confirmed by distinct variations in the bony formation; since in all fishes there is observed to exist a great range of hues, shades, and even positive colors, arising sometimes from mere casual influences operating on individual speci- mens, sometimes from accidents of light or shade affect- ing peciiliar situations, and most frequently of all fiom the soil and character of the feeding-grounds, and from the various mineral or earthy substances held in solution by the waters they frequent. These latter influences frequently modify the same If'. 'ii ; ■ J : ^i i 1: ii ■ I ^-...^ 1, 302 AMISRICAN GAME. fish in different streams, even of the same region and neighborhood, and flowing over soils apparently identi- cal, to such an extent, that the casual observer not unnaturally believes them to be distinct varieties, if not species, and can be with difficulty convinced, on the im- mutable evidences of structural sameness. This fact has led, in a great measure, to the compli- eating and confounding the science of Natural History by the undue multiplication of names, species, and genera, where no specific differences exist ; rendering • the science infinitely difficult to the beginner, and causmg the unlearned to undervalue the lore of the na- turalist, and to deny the reality of all scientific distinc- tions whatsoever. On differences of structure, such as the situation and texture of the fins, the number of spines or soft rays in each, the form of the gill covers, the character and position of the teeth, perfect reliance may be placed, as indicating unchangeable specific characteristics, by ob- servation of which the educated naturalist will name at a glance the species, genus and sub-genus of any fish unseen before ; and will unerringly determine his habits' his food, and in some degree his habitation. Thus of the Pevcoid family we distinguish the sub- genera Perca, perch proper, from QHstcs and Centrar- chus, to which are referred the types black basse of the lakes, and the little rock basse of the St. Lawrence basin, by the fact that the Perm have one spine to the THE rERcir. 303 ventralsand two to tlie anal. The Gristes one to the ventrals and three to the anal. The Genti^archi one to the ventrals and six to the anal. And in like manner, by the number of spines support- ing the first dorsal, we are enabled to pronounce on the truth or untruthfulness of the many subdivisions of the perch family, as predicated by the fishermen of various regions, and insisted on by credulous naturalists, such as Dr. Smith, of Massachusetts, whose book is rendered absolutely valueless by the readiness which he displays in adopting every local legend concerning new varieties, and classifying new species ; until, if we believe him at all, we must believe that every several stream ijnd pool from Maine to Minnesota has its own distinct variety of perch ; nor of perch only, but of trout, and, more or less, of every finny tenant of the waters. The truth appears to have been at length firmly es- tablished, and to be this— that there is but one clearly defined and distinct perch, perca fiamsoens, the yellow perch, found in the United States— that the ;perca flw viatilis, common river perch of Europe, does not exist at all in American waters, tliough it is so closely con- nected with our fish that a casual observer would pro- nounce them identical— that the supposed subgenera of "perca gramdata, or rough-headed j^erch, perca argentea, silver perch, ^^w^j acuta^ or sharp-nosed perch, ^iv^ perca gracilis, said to be peculiar to the small lakes of Ska- neateles, in the interior of New York, are not sufficient- % \\\ m 1 K* - 5 i- m. 304: AlVIEEICAN GAME. I7 made out as permanent varieties; and that the variations of color from dark, green and greenish brown, to bright yellow, silvery, and something nearly approaching to orange, are merely local, casual, and individual differences, and not general, permanent, specific distinctions. The following luminous description of this game and excellent fisli is borrowed from Dr. Richardson's Taura- horeali-Americana, or natural liistiry of the Northern Regions of America, including parts of the United States, and the British Provinces as far north as to the Arctic Ocean. The specimen from which it was com- piled was cauglit at Penetanguishine, on the great Georgian bay of Lake Huron, but will answer for fish of this genus taken in any part of America which they may chance to frequent; so small is their variation in any respect but that of color, which appears to vary in obedience to no fixed law of locality or latitude, except that it appears to me that of the fishes taken in estuaries and at the mouths of tidal rivers, the color is deeper and the tints fade from cerulean black along the dorsal out- line to olive green on the flanks, with a silver belly; while in clear lakes and fresh streams, they change froin olive-green on the back to bright golden yellow wi the sides and belly. THE YELLOW PEECn. Color.— Qquqv^I tint of the back greenish-yellow ; of the sides golden-yellow with minute black specs ; 'and THE rKiicii. 305 of the bcllj wliitisli. Nine or ten dark Lands descend from tlie back to the sides, and taper away toward the belly ; tlie alternate ones are shorter, and on the tail and shoulders they are less distinctly defined ; the lon<;est band is opposite to the posterior part of the iirst ^dorsal fin, on which there is a large black mark. Form.—ThQ body is moderately compressed, its great- est thickness being somewhat more than one half of its depth. Its profile is oblong, tapering more toward the tail, which is nearly cylindrical : its greatest depth is at the ventrals, and rather exceeds one-fonrth of the total length, caudal included. The head constitutes two-sevenths of the total length, and its height, at the eye, is equal to one-half its length from the tip of the snout to the point of the gill-cover. The forehead is flat, but appears depressed, owing to the convexity of the nape. The snout is a little convex. The orbits are lateral, distant more than one of their own diameters from the tip of the snout, and more than two diameters from the point of the gill-cover. The jaws are equal. The mouth descends as it runs backward, its posterior angle being under the centre of the orbit. 2letL—The intermaxiliaries, lower -jaw, knob of the vomer, and edge of the palate-bones, are covered with very small, straight or slightly-curved, densely-crowded ' teeth (eii velovrs.) The vault of the palate^ posterior part of the vomer, and the pointed tongue, are smooth. Gill-covers.-— The preoperculum is narrow ; its upper : 1 J. ami-:rican game. limb rising vertically forms a right-angle with the lower one; and its edge U armed witli small spinous teeth, those on the lower limb being directed forward. Tlie . bony oi)erculum terminates in a narrow sub-spinous point, beneath which there are three denticulations, with grooves running backward from them. An acute- pointed membranous flap prolonged from the margin of the suboperculum conceals these parts iu the recent fish. The edge of the interoperculum and posterior part of the suboperculum are minutely denticulated. Tlie edges of the humeral bones are slightly grooved and denticulated, the denticulations being more obvious in some individu- als than in others. Scales.— There are sixty scales on the lateral line, and twenty-two in a vertical row between the first dorsal and centre of the belly. Tlie scales are rather small, their bases truncated and furrowed to near the middle {stnees en eventail) by six grooves corresponding to eight minute lobes of the margin. A narrow border of the outer rounded edge is very miniUely streaked, producing teeth on the margin, visible under a lens. The length and breadth of a scale, taken from the side, are about equal, being two and a half lines. A linear inch measured on . the sides or belly, longitudinally, contains twelve scales, the scales on the belly having, however, less vertical breadth. On the back an inch includes seventeen or e'ghteen. The asperity of the scales is perceptible to the finger, when it is drawn over them from the tail 12* I THE TERCH. 307 toward the heatl. Tlio lateral-line is thrice as near to the back as to the belly, and is slightly arched till it passes the dorsal and anal fins, when it runs straight through the middle of the tail. It is marked on elch scale by a tubular elevation, which is divided irregularly by an oblique depression. Flm.~Br. 7-7; D. 13-1 | 13; P. M; Y. 1 I 5; A. 2 I 8; C. 17 5-5.* The first dorsal commences a little posterior to the point of the gill-cover and to the pectorals : its fourth and fifth rays are the highest : tlie first ray is slender and not half the height of the second ; the last ray is so short as to be detected only by a close examination. The second dorsal commences a quarter of an inch from the first, the space between them being occupied by two or three inter-spinoiis bones without rays : its first ray is spinous, and is closely applied to the base of the second, which is thrice as long, distinctly articulated, and divided at the tip ; the remaining rays are all divided at their summits, but at their bases the articulations are obsolete. The pectorals originate opposite to the spinous point of the operculum ; they are somewhat longer than the ventrals, which are attached opposite to the second spine of the first dorsal. The anal is rounded : its first * Br. represents the rays within the gill-covers, which form the breathing apparatus of the animal-D. the dorsals— P, pectorals— V. ventrals-A. anal— C. caudal. The notations 1 | 13, 2 | 5, and 2 | 8, respectively indicate one hard spine, thirteen soft rays, etc. etc. M III II I 1 ;li I \ ( 30S A:\riCKICAN GAME. ray is onc-funrth i^wt shoitcr than the second, jotli beln-v spinous : the succeeding rays are articulated and hrancli- ed, tlie five anterior ones being longer than tlie second spine, the others becoming successively shorter: its termination is opposite to that of the second dorsal. The caudal is distinctly forked, its base is scaly, the scales advancing i'arther on the outer rays and covering one-third of their lengtli. Such is the general description of the fish throughout the country at large, but great allowance must be made for accidental and local variations of color, some speci- mens being light green, backed and barred with black, with silvery bellies, others exactly as portrayed above, others nearly orange, and approaching in some degree to the splendor of the gold-fish. As I have observed, no fish is more general than this, in every description of waters thrc ghout his range in the United States. From the largest rivers, so low down their channels that the waters begin to be brackish, to the smallest mountain rivulets ; from the mill-pond, and small, clear mountain tarn, to the vast expanses of Huron, Michigan and Superior, tliey are omnipresent and numerous. They spawn in March, each female exuding a vast quantity of spawn. So many as 992,000 ova having been taken, as it is stated by Mr. Brown in his " Ameri"^ can Angler's Guide," though he does not annex his authority, from a single female. THE PEKCil. 309 They may be taken diu-ing every month of tlio vear with the liook, being bold biters and among the most voracbns of all iishcd, devouring the spawn and young fry of their own species with savage avidify, and being among the most deadly foes to the trout preserves, owing to the rapacity with which they ransack the spawning beds. They are in tlie main a lively and active fish, roving about in small bands or shoals, sometimes swimming high and nea,r the surface, leaping merrily at the flies and smaller water insects, and sometimes, especially in clear, rapid scours of gravel-bedded rivers, sweeping along the bottom, gathering the small, red brandling worms, of which they are very fond, caddises, and other water reptiles, as well the spawn of such fish as use these localities. Tlie larger fish will, however, often select stations, such as the lee of a large stone at the tail of a ripple, especially under the umbrage of trees growing on the bank, or among the piles and timbers of mill-dams or sluice-ways, whence they sally out like the pike or trout on any passing j^rey with great velocity and accuracy of ' aim. Still even these are decidedly gregarious, as one is never found singly in a hole, such places being invaria- bly frequented by such a band as it will liberally sup- port, who rarely stray beyond its limits, and prey, for the most part over the same fishing-ground, and in the same course. u ■jI; !'•'? II'' 810 Aaii;i>K;AN game. m Tliis proponsify is talccn lulvjinta^e of by tlio angler, since, wlien he Ims once struck upon a Avoll-stocked haunt, wlille the tLsh are in tlie humor to bite, ho will be very a])t, if patient and skillful, to take the whole shoal without the loss of a single fish. Tlie growth of the yellow perch is slow, and appears to bo proportioned pretty accurately to the size and character of the waters which he frequents. In small, swift-running brooks, or little Kpring-ponds or mill-dams, lie rarely excQcds a few inches in length and a few ounces in weight, partaking generally of the green and silvery type of the fish. In estuaries and largo rivers, in the pellucid tarns and lakelets, which are dotted so beautifully through all the uplands of the eastern and middle states from Maine to Pennsylvania, in the vast expanses of the great northern lakes of Canada, in the giant rivers of the west, they attain far more rapidly to a great size, three or four pounds being a run by no means unusual, and individuals being not unfrequently taken up. to five, six and seven pounds, when they are yery firm, fat, and in capital condition for the table. . They may be caught in all months of the year. Mr. Brown considers that they "may be had in the largest quantities and in the finest condition from May to July ;" but from my own experience, which has been limited principally to the lakelets of Maine, to Green- wood or Wawayanda lake, in Orange county, ]N"ew York to Lake Ilopatkong, desecrated into Brooklyn pond, in THi: PEEcn. 811 Sussex county, Xow Jersey, and to some of the north eastern streams and i,onds of Pennsylvania, I should say that late in the autumn When the niaplo bougha are crimson. Arul the hickory sliines like gold, And tho noons are sultry hot, And the nights are frosty cold ; They bite with greater freedom, show more sport, and are better on the table than at any other season of the year. The yellow perch is a bold, nay I a savage biter, and a greedy feeder ; it is even recorded of him that he has been known to strike at his own eye, casually torn out by the point of the hook, which is to me by no means incredible. Securely weaponed by the sliarp palisade of arrowy spines bristling along his back, and by the stout jagged thorns protruding in advance of his ventral anal fins, when of any considerable size, lie fears neither thj tremendous rush and shark-like jaws of the savage mas- calonge, nor the terrible agility and dauntless daring of the namaj cush and siskawity, those vast lake trouts, but feeds himself, a lesser tyrant of tho waters, on whatever crosses his path of havoc. A light, stiff, ten-foot rod, with a small reel, and twenty-five or thirty yards of line, with a small cork float, and a proper sinker for bottom fishing, is the best 4 A n . I 312 a:\iiuKican game. ri implement ; and the best baits for this method are the common ground-worm or the little scarlet brandling. The latter j:)articnlarly in rapid channels and scours. Cheese pastes are also used, and at times successfully, but I do not advocate their use, but the most certainly deadly of all baits is the j)aste made from the preserved roe of any fish which frecpients the waters you are to fish. Trout-roe, in lakes or rivers haunted by that gamest and best of all the inhabitants of the water, kills unerringly. In brackish water shrimp beats the world for perch, remembering that you fish near to or upon the bottom. Perch, especially when of large size, may be trolled for as 25ikc, with the hind legs of a frog, or with any small fish on a gorge hook. But in my opinion the prettiest of all modes of catching them is to rove for them with the live minnow. For this purpose you take a fine, clear, gut leader, with a Ko. 9 Limerick hook whipped on at. the tail, and an inch and a half above it, and back to back to the tail hook, a second one size smaller than the first. The upper should be hooked securely into the lower jaw of a moderate sized minnow, and the lower into his dorsal fin, care being taken not to pierce his back, when he will swim about naturally and gayly for many hours, if not taken by a fish, and if carefully released without lacera- tion, will survive the operation. A small cork, or what is better, quill-fioat, is necessary to tliis method, and a THE PEECIT. 313 few shot, sufficient to sink the bait to within three inches of the bottom. When a bite is felt, a little time should be given before striking : when struck, the perch Js surely taken, for though he pulls hard for a short time he has -neither the fierce courage nor the wily craft of the trout, but succumbs after a few bvief struggles. A reel is necessary, and the float often dispensed with by veterans in the art. , T^ie following -ery graphic extract on perch fishing in the waters of the Niagara river and Lake Erie, are from the pen of probably the best piscatorial writer of the United States, long an esteemed correspondent of the Bufiiilo Commercial Advertiser, from whose lucubrations I have borrowed largely in my larger works on " Fish and Fishing," and to whom I gladly record my obliga- tion : " The Yellow Perch. This beautiful and active fish is almost omnipresent in the fresli waters of the North- ern States. Tliere are probably two distinct but similar species in our country, blended together under this com- mon name. The perch of New England differs from ours principally in the shape of the head. In the Sara- toga Lake, Owasco Lake, Cayuga Outlet, the Flats of Lake Huron, and many other localities, the perch is larger than with us, frequently weighing three pounds. Among tlie perch of our streams and rivers, a half-pound- er is a very portly citizen— thougli on a few particular bars they are sometimes taken in considerable numbers 14 ' ■f-I ; V ■ 'I 11 if /ii .' i; * 314 AMERICAN GAME, ( 4 1 i averaging nearly a pound each. It is almost always to be had, from earliest spring to the commencement of winter ; and when poor Piscator has had all his lobsters* taken by the sheeps-head, and utterly despairs of bass, he can, at any time, and almost any where, in our river, bait with the minnow and the worm, and retrieve some- what from frowning fortune, by catching a mess of perch. " In the spring, as soon as the ice has left the streams, the perch begins running up our creeks to spawn. He is then caught in them in great plenty. About the middle of May, however, he seems to prefer the IS^iagara's clear current, and almost entirely deserts the Tonawanda, and other amber waters. Yon then find him in the eddies, on the edge of swift rii^ples, and often in the swift waters, watching for the minnow. As the water-weeds increase in height, he ensconces himself among them, and, in mid-summer, comes out to seek his prey only in the morning and toward night. He seems tc delight especially in a grassy bottom, and when the black frost has cut down the tall water-weeds, and the more delicate herbage that never attains the surface is withered, he disappears until spring— probably secluding himself in the depths of the river. "The back fin of the perch is large, and armed with strong spines. He is bold and ravenous. He will not give way to the pike or to the black bass ; and though * By lobsters the writer means the small fresh-water crayfish. our river. he THE PERCH. 315 7 sometimes be eaten by them h:. -ajate upon «. ,oun, of J. Ir;': """''''' ^^" iiie proper bait for the perch i, tl,„ ' • -ill take, that at all season. ' „< T ""' J'e p.-efers the wonn, at ,vh cl. ""'■'""""<^'-' '^"^''^ver, He is often taken wi 1 tL t'TT"' '"" ''■^^'^• fisli of any kind. " ' ""'"' ''"''" P'««e« of ^e:u:;;::rrr';;::7.-«-*. His pork rather th^n uL ' ^'^ '"^'^ '•'*'> »'' »«kes good chow e? f"' "'"""g'"^' d™^. He «'e.Me\hass::t;:;r;r""""'^*^'"^-- J«^i.-d. .etn,eteU;:rt:tjTrVr sWp pointed knife, and rin „„ t,,„ ^'^"""m- Take a fi- the posterior ^tren J^ J I V ^ "" ''^^'^' both sides of it alon. it, , , * ''"' ™ °"« «r ^^''^^..bytheSrtrtirfr---^-^-''^ right take I,oId of the skin „,,''"' '"'' ^"^'^ *''« fi-t on one side and en 1 f, '"' "'^»'- «'« '-^ 0- the tail. This hei „ on^a ''tie 7 '''' " ""^^" removed except those of the 7 ' "'^ "'^™V easily drawn o' t b^ i le ft "' ''"^' "'"^'' "^ ' Cut off the head, an ^o 1 : ^.^'t ^^ "''''^• ofp-e white flesh. Le ; ,• ^T' "T """^ perch shonld be prepared for tl^ I ^ n "'^ ""^' " 't-Pairs the flavor, and shonld ne J :rer 7 i; 1 i! i 816 AMERICAN GAME. for me, I say, * in medio tutisshmis ih^s^ — neither of the disputants is infallible. Much, very much of the sweet- ness of the i^erch, and, indeed, almost all fishes, resides in the skin, which should never be parted with except for some special reason ; therefore, as a general thing, I scale my perch. But, in summer, the sldn of the perch is apt to acquire a slightly bitter taste, or a fmack of the mud — therefore, in summer, I skin my perch." Before quitting this subject, I will simply point out that the excellent little pan fish taken in salt water, near the turn of the tide, in most of our large rivers, and usually known as white perch, or silver perch, is not a perch, but the little white, or the little red bass. And herewith, good-night: and good luck to the gentle friends and good fishermen all who read Graham. :: ; XII. DECEMBER. % Cmiksjaxli §\ul Fulignia Bemaculata. MASSACHUSETTS SOUTH TO THE CHESA THE MISSISSIPPI. PEAKE; WEST TO Fuligula Biamculata. ARCTIC REGIONS TO THE ST. LAWRENCE AND , MICHIGAN. LAKE i • if n "f'-.i \ • II -:, ■ • am 1 . ) ■J I J m id if IP v.. ')' u THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. F'uUgula Valisneria. Of a truth tliis is tlie royalty of Dneks. No otlier water-fowl to liim is equal, or second, or in anywise com< parable ; and the unhappy man who pictures to him- self, in the vain imaginings of his own heart, that he is ^goimnet; that he is blessed with a refined, delicate, discriminating palate ; tliat he is capable of criticism' nay, of accumulated judgment, upon edibles, not having tasted yet a Gunpowder River Canvas-Back, reeking from the spit, with no condiment, save a modicum of salt and a stick of his bird's kindred plant, the celery, iriay go back to his rudiments ; for when he shall onco have been blessed with fruition of tliat rare mouthful, ho will be compelled, how reluctant soever, to admit that all his boasted knowledge is but the knowledge of his own woful ignorance. And while we are speaking of our king of water-fowL i] A- \ V4; * I 320 AJMi;iiiUAi\ GAME. i''Ff,4 as seen caiid felt upon tijo Lean], not yet in his grander and nobler capacity and ciiuracter, as game in the free air, or on tlie liberal waters, let us observe that the cook who sends this glorious fowl red-raw up to the table, to be cut up butclierly and bedevllctl In a chafing-di«h, with wine and jelly, and I know not Avhat, is worthy of a rope and tlie nearest lanip-jx.st— death without beneiit of clergy. The man who would so condescend to eat him, his juicy, melting, natural richness disguised by cloying artificial sweetness, deserves incontinently to bo elected a Xew York aldermaji, and doomed to batten, life-long, at the corporation ^6'«-table ; nor can we con- ceive a doom more hideous or intolerable to be endured by any rational, much more refined or thinking man, than such a condemnation ; whether we regard the ciuality of the gross feeders and foMl-livers with whom he would have to consort, oj- the nature of the ill-cooked ill-assorted, rank and racy viands which he would be compelled to absorb. Xo ! let the kitchen be the kitchen, and its work be done within its own coniines. Let the duck, roasted to a turn, redolent of a rapid tire, and brownly, nay, but almost Uucldy crisp without, be served up on its lordly dish, without one gout of sauce or gravy to dim the splendor of the sheeny porcelain. A vase of celery may accompany him, and, if you will, a salver of halved lemons, but no more. Let him bo placed before the right man of the company, one competent to TiiK cax;a.s-uack duck. ' <^«rvel>u.n.,s.a dish for gods, JVot hew him as acarcusa for the hounds." 821 "And as he draws hi. trenchant stool away, Mark how the blood of Oa^sar follows it," with tJ,e nob,e/i«r "^ ™"" '^ i'^^*"'"^-! .0 tll;;; f^""' '"» - --^PP-K-te raphes »" tM. ra... Jueine. and '^:^:^XXr """"T' iitable snl i„t„ ti . ""'= P"'!/<"clay, are attr b- table solay to the n.cety and gentlemanly habits of yonr Chesapeake Canvas-Baclc, i„ that he Z i"S the ,nodus operandi of „y rie„ds tjl / t' ''""" tea-table, wisely, but not too "eT W o 't" " of the Chesapeake Bay, but r.^.^7:T powder rivpv ic n,^ 1 1 ^^^umj ot tlie Gun- whereas an Ih ''1"*'^'"'"' «^ «"" --ient dominion ; Whereas, all other Canvas-Bacts, even of the James, th^ m i 4 I :: i ;■ I i 822 AMERICAN GAME. rotoiiinc, and the ratapsco, shall bo at once dibtiiigiuBh- ed as mere 2)ai'venue8 and merchant princes ; as those from the Hudson, the So'.ind, or the great South Bay, rank as the mere snobs and vulgarians— the very out- casts of Duckdom. The wonderful difference whicli exists between these fowl, when shot on the waters of tlie Chesapeake and elsewhere, arises solely from the difference of their food. The Canvas-Back ranges across many degrees of this continent, from the Falls of St. Peter's on the IT^jper Mississippi, whence I possess a pair of fine stuffed speci- mens, sent to me by my friend Mr. Sibley, now M. C. for Minnesota, corresponding in every particular with the same birds from the southern estuaries, so far north as the Long Island Sound, and the great lagoons between its southern side and the outer beaches on which I have frequently killed it. But nowhere is it a superior duck, except on the waters and tributaries of the Chesapeake, where its favorite food, the wild celery, as it is incorrect- ly called, Zostera Valimena, or Valisneria jbnerwana, grows in the greatest abundance, and imparts to it that peculiar richness and delicacy, which it bestows on none of its congeners, though all these, too, it wonderfully improves, particularly the Widgeon, or Baldpate, Anas Americana, regarded as second to it longo intervaUo, and the Red-Headed Duck, or Pochard, FuUgula ferina, which may be regarded as its cousin german. While speaking of the birds in this relation I may mention that TUK OAKVAS-LACK DUCK. 823 the Ilcd-Ilcucl, tliougli iniincasunibly inferior to the Uuvas-Buek, where both can feed on the vallsnena, is as far superior to it when shot on seu-waya where both are conipelled to feed on other species of sea-grass and weeds. Indeed, I consider tlio Duskej Duck, commonly known as the Black-Duck, a bett. r bird on the Korthern Atlantic sea- board than this fowl. Tlio vallmerla of which it is so fond, and to which it owes 80 much of its excellence, grows only on fresh shoals, m water from seven to nine f^ot, which are never left bare at the lowest tides. Ifis a long grass-like plant, with narrow leaves of five or six feet in length or upward, and is said to grow so thickly that a boat can scarcely be pulled through it ; the root is white, and somewhat resembles celery, whence its common name and on this only do the ducks feed, the Canvas-Back and Scaup-Duck, Fullg^da Ifarila-iU Black-IIead of the Chesapeake, and Broad-Bill of Long Island-for these three are one-being reported to dive for it, and uproot It, while the less vigorous and active Red-Head and Widgeon rob the rightful possessors of it when they rise to the surftice after their long dive. The Ked-IIead closely resembles the Canvas-Back, and IS often palmed off on the unwary as that bird, yet to an experienced eye the distinction is broadly apparent. In the first place the Canvas-Back is very considerably the larger bird, measuring two feet in length by three feet from wing to wing, and weighing, when in condition, isfS/^ivv 324: AMEKICAJS' GAME. full tlirec pouiuls. The upper parts of tlie Canvus-Eacka are mucli iigliter, and tlie colors generally clearer and brighter tlirn in the Red-Head, whicli I consider Identi- cal with the European Pochard. It is in the heads of ' the two birds, however, that the difference will be most readilj perceived, the bill of the Canvas-Back being above three inches long, purely black, and very high at the base ; whereas that of the Red-Head is bluish, except at the tip, where it is black, and rarely exceeds two and a cpiarter inches, besides being much flatter where it jtins the head. Perliaps tlie best distinction, however, is in the eye, for that nuirk is positive, whereas all the otliers are merely comparative; tlie rridis, or circles around the pupil l)eing, in tlie Canvas-Back, deep, fiery red ; whereas in the other bird they are of a lurid reddish-yellow or chestnut. I have been somewhat particular in insisting on these differences, as I find that there 2) re vails much uncertainty regarding them, and as the pointing out these with precision may protect some fair readers, if any deign to cast their eyes over this paper, as well as gentle sports- men, from deception and disappointment. The Canvas-Back drake, in full plunuige, is a magnifi- cently handsome fowl, and his speed and power of sus- tained flight, as well as extraordinary agility and persistence in diving are in all respects conmiensurate with his beauty. Tlie crown of his head, the space between the bill and THE CAKVAS-ISACK DUCK. 325 tlie eye, and t.',e throat, are dusky ; the sides of the head, neck all round and tlic greater part of its lengtli nch, ruddy ehestuut; the lower neck, breast, and back, deep, sooty black, the rest of the back white, closely nud.ulated with narrow black lines; the wing-eoverts gray, speckled with black ; primaries and secondaries ight slate color ; rump tail-coverts and tail, blackish • lower breast and abdomen, white; -flanks white, finely undulated with gray; under tail-coverts, grayish-blaek. Ihe female is inferior iu size to the male, and general- ly of a dmgy, grayish-brown, except the abdomen, which IS white, penciled with blackish lines. This bird is unknown except on this continent, never being found in Europe ; and of its habits, except durin.. the winter months, which it spends in our sea-bays and estuanes, little or nothing has been ascertained, so that of all its most interesting peculiarities in nidiflcation Hicubation, and the rearing of its young, we are almost wliollj Ignorant. Tliat it breeds in tlie extreme north we are, of course assured, and that it is not averse to a more tlian mode- rate degree of cold, since it stays with us even after the ice has made, when it can feed only through air-holes, und is never found far south of the capes of the Chesa- peake. It does not, moreover, become very abundant even on those its favorite waters, until the cold weather has iiiirlj set in, about the middle of IS^ovember, and a month later it is considered to be in its prime. It is, m ill ■«., 326 AMERICAN GAME. however, vcrj i-emarkable, tluit I cannot discover that the Canvas-Back is ever seen or known to visit the great Upper Lakes, where the Read-Head is also rare, though Widgeon and Scaup abound, and though the nortliern tributaries of Lake Huron, as well as the flats of the Lake St. Clair are overgroAvn with all the various plants in which they most delight, both the Valisneria Ameri- cana, and the zizania panioula cffusa, known as wild rice, flourishing in wonderful profusion, and imparting their peculiar q^ualities of flavor, tenderness, and juci- ness to all the tribes of water-fowl, even the least worthy, which haunt these deep, ice-cold, translucent waters. The only solution I can ofi'er for this seeming anomr.ly, for all tJie other ducks pause to recruit awhile in those favorable feeding-grounds while on their southward course, is that the Canvas-Back and Red-Head do not move en masse from the northern sea-shores, until those great inland waters are girdled around tlieir margins, and winter-bound along their tributary streams by fetters of thick-ribbed ice, and that the fowl in consequence pass over without pausing or becoming known, to their great detriment, to the red or white inhabitants of the coast. Certain it is, that they are unknown to the Indian tribes who dwell on the shores or islands of Lake Huron, and that the officers of the English posts who have known them elsewhere, ignore them here. To compensate, liowever, for our iarnorance conceruino- their summer habits, haunts, and proceedings, we are THE CANVAS-BiCK DUCK. 327 wel uwaro of their wiutcr doings and sufferings, for, in ta,th, from tlie day of tlieir arrival on tire waters of the Chesapeake to that of their departure in the spring, thev have small rest by day or by night, in spite of the exe>' hons of the shooting-clubs to prevent their disturbance by sading-boats and punts with swivels on the feedino- grounds. ^ One of their liabits is so curious that it merits peculiar .attention, though it is shared by these birds with several other varieties, the Scaups, or Black-IIeads, and the I.oad- leads especially, and sometimes, though rarely, by ae mdgeon or Bald-Pates; this habit is a strange hHllucmation, or curiosity, which induces them to swita direc ly ,n from their feeding-grounds, under the verv nn,.de of the concealed gunner's weapon on the occur- rence of any rare or unusual sight, such as an animal at play on the beach, or the waving of a red handkerchief by day, and a white by night. Advantage is taken of tins singular propensity to lure them to their doom • and lam assured by a good sportsman that he has known tuc same flock tok^, as it is called, into easy gun-shot, and decimated each time, thrice successively within lialf an hour. The mode of doing this is thus related by Dr. Sharp- less, of Philadelphia, wlio contributed the account to Mr. Audubon, for his "Birds of America," from whom with due acknowledgment, I borrow it, never having mt ■■■'?' ,1 S28 AMEIJICAN GAME. mjsulf enjoyed the plccasurc of observing tins singular mode of si^orting. For this purpose, says the doctor, " a spot is usually selected where the birds have not been much disturbed, and where they feed at from three to four hundred yards from, and can approach to within forty or fifty yards of the shore, as tliey never will come nearer than they can swim freely. The higher the tides and the calmer the day, the better, for tliey feed closer to the shores and see more distinctly. Most persons on these waters have a race of small white or liver-colored dogs"— other writers say red, and resembling the fox—" which they familiarly call the tolcr breed, but which appear to be the ordinary poodle. These dogs are extremely playful, and are taught to run up and down the shore, in sight of the ducks, either by the motion of the hand, or by throwing chips from side to side. They soon become perfectly acquainted with their business, and as they discover the ducks approaciiing tliem, make their jumps less high, till they almost crawl upon the ground to prevent the birds discovering what the object of their curiosity may be. The nearest ducks soon notice this strange appearance, raise their heads, gaze intently for a moment, and then push for the shore, followed by the rest. On many occa- sions I have seen thousands of them swimming in a solid mass direct for the object ; and by removing the dogs farther into the grass, they have been brought to within fifteen feet of the bank. When they have approached THE CA.VYAS-BACK DUCK. 329 to within thirty or forty yards their cariosity is generally satisfied, and after swimming up and down for a few seconds, they retrograde to their former station The moment to shoot is while they present their sides, and iorty or fifty ducks have often been killed by a small gnn. It IS said that tlie tendency to overslioot large, s,,licl flocks IS so great that the oldest and best sliots recom- mend that the nearest duck be brought into full relief adove the sight, when your shot will rake the mass To prevent the foMnr^ dogs from breaking, other do., crossed between the Newfoundland and water-spaniel' are used, which display even more sagacity than the tolers, crouching when the ducks come in, and sprino-b,. lip eagerly at the discharge, in order to mark its effect" Burmg a flight of fowl, these retrievers are said ince- santly to watch the quarter of the heavens whence the fowl are ilying, and to indicate their approach by rest- lessness of manner long before the human eye can detect them. This tolw^j is not, however, regarded by good and great duck-shots as a very legitimate or sportsmanlike method, and though the sagacity of the dogs, and the gradual approaeli of the ducks in a way so curious must give an intere .^ and excitement to the business, it must be confessed that blazing away into solid, stationary masses of thousands cannot be compared to shootino. on the wing. 330 AMEBICAN GAilE. w m Tlie tnic and gnostic mode of shooting, liowever is from the points or islands, over wliich the ducks and geese % in going np or down the bay, according as th^ wind may be, and on which blinds or screens are con^ stiucted, concealing a seat on which the sportsman quietly and comfortably awaits the advent of the fowl the teams of which may be seen at a long distance, so that their approach, and the doubt to whose stand they will give the shot, renders the sport most exciting. Eetrievers of the same cliaracter with those describetl above, are u.cd m this ilight-sliooting ; and the use of two heavy Iburtecn .r sixteen pounds single guns, carry- mg 4 or 5 oz. of ^o. 1 to B shot, as I have recommend- ed m my ivield Sports for fowl shooting in general, is greatly preferred to that of one double gun, heavier in fact, but as regards each barrel, lighter, and, therefore, neither so safe nor eflx3ctive as the two singles in succes- sion, and by far less easily managed. The most celebrated of these stations is Carrol's Island, long rented by a club of sporting gentlemen, and famous for the astonishing sport it was wont to furnish year after year. The Narrows, also, between Sposutil Island on the western shore, Taylor's Island at the mouth ot the Rumley, and Abbey Island at the mouth of the Bush River, Legoe's Point on the last named stream and Robbins' and Ricketts' Points, near the Gunpowder,' are all favorite and famous stations. The sport is greatly enhanced by the difficulty of the THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 331 sJiootuig; and it is said tluit even the best of upland shots, or fowl shots, accustomed only to stooUng, f\;il of success at fu-st in this flight-shooting, from the difficulty of calculating the distance of the teams, and the rapidity of their motion. ^ And now, gentle readers, for our time, our topic, and our space, are all three exhausted, if you be bound in this, the best month, for the fair Chesapeake, steady be your hands, and sure your eyes ; use l]rough's IliUN-kers' ducking powder, and Starkey's central fire caps, so shall your guns not lail you. May the M-incls bloM^, the tides flow, and the flights ily as you would have them. And BO fiirewell to ye ; and oh ! that we were bound thither likeAvise, to beat you or be beaten, as it might be. It- I >« ' '8' THE WINTER DUCK. The Lakk Ihnon Scoti.k. r,,f;,j„la Umaculafa ? Canard d'kwer. TlHs em-io„. unci ;„terosti„g .luck h not aoscrilea in any book of natural history, relating- to tl.o birds of tbo I mtod Mate, of Xortb An.erioa ; nor, so far as I can ascertan, . u n.cntionocl or nan.0,1 in any genera, or «^ uork o, orn.ti,oIo,y, nnle.s. it n.ay possibly oecnr .n tuebardson s ^cuua Oor,an Amencana, wbicl, I bave not Iiad an opjiortunity of consnltiii-.^. It certainly is not to be fonnd either in Andnbon or Bonaparte, mnch less in AVilson; nor eonb] tbe latter be expected to bare known it, .i„eo in bis da,- tbe re,™„s wluch it fre,„en,s were scarcely discovered, and at tlie best v.s.ted only by rnde frontiersmen and To,,a- ff'-'O'., or coareurs des lou, who are not expected to take inncb note of generic or specific distinctions ainoiK- tbe varieties of gan,e, which is regarded by then, aslittle more tlian food. It is qnite certain, however, that this fine ,lnck is now at least frdly entitled to a place in the Favna of the 6 n iK'M P'^f H ft 6 H M K y c n t: s ■ \ i TOE WINTIili ncCK. 333 TJn.tecl States, as it has its halUat, during a consMoraWo portion of the year, on waters within their froiLtiers, and .3 well-known in the nortli western region,, by ,he natne prefixed to this paper, "Winter-Duck-," or among the tanad,„r, Freneh as the C'aimrd ffhh>e,; heinJ the Vnonjnn of the- te™. above n«ed. By the ollhwa Indians, of Nottawasaga Bay, and the Matehedash, it is known as the "Big Widgoon"_a n,ost inappropriate name, as, beside that it bears no eartl,ly resemblanee to the proper wi,lge„n, it entirely differs from that bird >n seasons and habits-the Widgeon or Bald-Pate bein. a sunnner resident in the north-west and migrating to the sea-eoast southward during the eold, winter months, ihis bird, on tlie contrary, comes down, as it would appear, late in the fall, from the extreme north, and winters on tlie great nnfro.en lakes, its southern limit of migration not varying mueh, so far as I ean judge, from the forty-fifth degree of nortli latitude. My lirst sight of this bird was during a visit to the nortliern shores of Lake Huron and the great Georgian Bay, m eompany with Lieut. F. C. Herbert, eommand- ^.g 11. M. steam sloop, "Mohawk," then stationed at Pene angnislnne. Immediately on entering tliat beau- tifnl httle harbor on a bright morning early i„ Septem- ber,_before the steamer was at her moorings, a Potawat- tomie Indian, who eould speak no English, came along- Side m his bark eanoe, with some wild-fowl for sale which were bought, and handed on deck for inspection ' i ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4 1.0 I.I i.25 IM 1^ m 1 2.5 ^ 1^ 112.0 1.4 12.2 !l.6 Photographic Sciences Corpcraiion 'c>' ^i?^^ V 23 WEST MAIN STREET Wf •"•^2R, N.Y. 14580 1,9) 872-4503 ,i yf AMERICAN GAME. scattered away, and dropped, more or less severely hurt, over the clear waters of the bright, sunny lake ; while the main body, or what was left of it, settled down and was marked by the Indians, on onr course toward Orillia. Some considerable time was occupied in taking the cripples; which were all dispersed, and which swam away rapidly as the canoes approached them, none of them making any attempt at rising again on the wing, seldom diving except when very hard pressed, and then only for a little time and short distance. When the wounded were all fairly brought to bag, the Indians were in great glee, and asserted that they could paddle US upon them all ; which I should have been inclined to doubt, had I not learned how very rarely an Indian hazards an assertion of which he is not perfectly well assured, especially to a white man; for the duck lay full in bright water, in the middle of the lake, which was as clear and smooth as a piece of glass, with a bright sun shining ; and our canoes were large and full of men ; nor was there a particle of wild-rice or sedge whereby to cover our apjjroaches. Nevertheless, An-oon-ge-zhig, or the "Starry-Sky," for so was our principal conductor styled, made his prophesy good ; for he did paddle us directly on the birds, and we slaughtered them, as they sat on the water with- out offering to fly at our approach, until we had bagged the greater part of the whole plump. On the following day, having attained the limit of our TDK WIHTEB DtTCK. 337 intended excursion, we put our heads to the north-west- ward, and bent onr way homeward, the eold weather suddenly g.viug way on the noon of the second day: after which we enjoyed the most delicious Indian-sum- mer weather I have ever witnessed. During ti.e whole of onr run down the Matehedash, and tla-ough the innumerable rice-lakes into which it expands, we had great sport with these same birds, whjch we killed in very considerable numbers, while daily wo could observe them coming in by great flights from the north ; though, on our way up, onT, three or four day, p,,,rfo„,,y_ ^^j^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^.^^ ^^ the kmd, though we had shot many scaups, mallard, and dusky-duck ; and not a few buffel-heads, called by the Indians spirit-ducks, from the rapidity with which they vanish from the eye when diving at the flash The fii^t thing which struck me on examining the specimen shown to me on board the "Mohawk," was the peculiar formation of the head and bill, and the position of the wings and legs ; all indicating it to be of the class fulifftd^e, or sea-d,icks, and of that coarse, and for the most part uneatable, species, generally known along our sea-board as " C7o<,fe"_although the true coot IS an entirely difi'erent species, haunting fresh-water pools, and belonging to the order of ffrall^tores, distin- gmshed from the ducks by having onlysemipalmated in lieu of webbed feet. Tlie known birds of this genus of fuUguIw, or sea- iiil :li^ ill if *\ ^ 338 AMEKICAN GAME. i^i ducks, as established by the authorities, and belonging to the United States, are sixteen in number, all of whicli are entirely flmiiliar to me. Of these, seven have the bill i3eculiarly formed, or I might say cZtformed, with curious protuberances at its base, and the feathered forehead running far down the dorsal, or upjjer, outline of the bill, almost to the nostril. These seven are the Eider-duck, the Ring-duck, the Harlequin-duck, the Pied-duck, the Yelvet-duck, the Surf-duck, ard the American Scoter ; of these, the three last, to all of which this bird bears a very considerable resemblance, are known as "coots" on the sea-shore, and are distinguishable by what may be called the scoter bill, high, and more or less carunculated at the base, and often variegated with several bright colors. It is remarkable, that of this genus of Fuligulm, eight are of the most, two of these the very most, delicious of all water-fowl on the table ; I need not specify the "Canvas-back," and the "Red-head," as their names will occur spontaneously to every sportsman, every gour- met in the land— while the other eight, includino- the Long-tailed duck. Old-wife, or South-southerly, are fishy, rank, oily ; an uneatable abomination. On the strength of the similarity of the Winter-duck of Lake Huron, to the Scoter flimily of the sea-ducks, I at once prophesied that it would prove, like its congeners, uneat- able. My surprise may be imagined when it turned out —not by the camp-fire, where, with the Spartan sauce, ' '•"- fc^*^ :i:-j-.Vj JittB- ii THE WINTER DFCK. l)elongiiig 1 of wliic]i have tlio Med, with feathered er, outline •dnck, the duck, the , the three isiderahle sea-shore, the scoter the base, ulcc^ eiglit licious of ecify the ir names ery gour- includinj? lerly, are On tlie of Lake . at once rs, nneat- irneil out m sauce. 339 all meat is appeti.ing-but at the comfortable dinner- Si.:: r.r"™"" ^"'"-^^-^ '»''-'' '»' p-"- nost del,c.ous duck I ever tasted, and not unworthy to he named alongside of the royal Canvas-hack himfclf It was not, m the least degree, fishy or sedgy ; but rich sucouicnt, delicate, and melting in the mo^fli, like tte' fch of fte fattest duck that ever fed in the Gunpowder 01 the Potomac-the cause of which undoubtedly is tins, that m both localities, the food of the fowl is the Bamc, the seeds of the wild-rice, ..W._^,,,;,„^^ ,^„,. the wdd-celery, ^allsne,m Amencana, and the eel-tass ^ostera .narina; all which, or varieties of them! are' muversally found in all the flats and mud-lakes of that region. On our return to convenient quarters, I imtaediafely set n^-self to work to dissect a sufHcient number of these fine fowl to satisfy myself as to the distinctions of the sexes as to plumage and coloring; to take careful meas- nrements, and draw up accurate descriptions; besides mak,ug a close and correct drawing of the bird from »a >u-e. I. rem all that I have since been enabled to collect I am well satisfied that this is a new and unde- scr.bed sea-duck from the arctic regions. I have never- iound any one, thougli I have consultedmany sportsmen and naturalists, who is acquainted with the bird south- cast of the straits of Mackinaw. At Detroit it is unknown, as also on the Canada shores, and that to I, V^ fl 340 AMEEICAl^ GAME. persons in the continual habit of sliooting fowl on the great rice-flats of Algonac on Lake St. Clair, on the Chatham marshes at the mouth of the Thames river on the same lake, and on the pine-swamps of the Anx Canards, near Amherstberg, an affluent of the Detroit river— all of which localities are literally alive with wild-fowl at the proper season. I have since heard from an officer in II. M. Royal Canadian Rifles of two of those birds being killed near Prcscott, on the St. Lawrence ; but they were utterly unknown to the inhabitants there ; and he wrote to mo to make inquiries as to their species and name. During the present summer I learned also, from my friend Mr. Dotty, M. C. for Wisconsin, that dm-ing the whole winter they are exceedingly abundant, wherever open water is to be found, on Lake Winnebago and the rivers of that region, coming late in the autumn and disai^pearing in the spring. Every thing, therefore, confirms me in my first idea, that this is an as yet nondescript duck, nondescript cer- tainly as a fowl of the United States, whose summer haunts are far up in the arctic seas, and the wiiiter limits of whose migrations do not extend below 4i.° 30' N. latitude. In this view, I have taken the liberty of sug- gesting, should it prove to be hitherto undescribed an^Il unnamed, the propriety of designating it the " Lake Huron Scoter," from its locality, and its resemblance to that class of ducks, and, in Latin, '^ FulujuU Umacu- TlIK WJKTJai DUCK. I on the , on tlie river on he A'tix Detroit ve with . Eoyal cd near utterly e to me Durino; Bnd Mr. 3 winter «'ater is of that ring in 5t idea, ipt cer- mnmer r limits 30' K 3f sng- ed and " Lake -nee to imac'Ur 341 lata^'fro^n the two white spots which are its most distin- guishing cliaractensties. _ The wood-cut at tl,o Load of thU article is matl.cmat- .eal y rcdncoU fVon. my own original sketch, and it ,nay be desci'ibod as liillows : ^ccf/fo C%a>'aetc,:~noaa elongated, elevated toward the -corona.; forehead protruding, feathered one-third the length of the hill ; hill ,„„eh elevated along the dorsal outline, dccurved and ilattened toward the tip • a broad nngms on hoth nmndiblcs ; nostril oval, pervious one-third nearer the tip than the base ; both .nandihlea deeply hnnellated along the gap. Neck short, stout Lody broad, thick, and n.uch depressed; wings short' and placed far back ; legs stout, situate veiy far back scutellate in front, reticdlate behind ; tail short, acutely ovate ; two centre feathers longest. /%»««^c..-Thick, soft, densely compressed, much blended, and having an under-stratum of soft, blackish down. CoIon,~VA\], Mulsh bhiclv, witliont any other tint • irides hazel ; legs, in the adult males, dusky crimson in' the females dull orange; elaws black; webs black and grained like morocco leather ; crown of the head, nape shoulders, back, upper tail coverts, and tail, sooty black • chin, cheeks, forepart of neck, and upper breast, sleek' satiny mouse color. A triangular white spot at the base' of the upper mandible, extending to the anterior angle of the eye ; a larger, irregular, oblong white spot below * I i I f t ' 3 i ;: 842 AMKRICAN GAME. and behind the posterior angle of the eye. Forepart of breast, belly, and vent dull, silvery gray ; ilanks and under tail coverts darkish, glossy, mouse colored. Seap- ularies, wing-coverts and tertials, dull brownish black ; secondaries broadly-banded with white, forming tho speculum; primaries jet black, under-wing coverts silvery mouse colored. Measurcmoits.— Head 5 inches, tip of bill to nape ; bill 2 4-10 ; length, to tip of tail, 24 inches ; to tip of claws 25i; length of tarsus 1 MO; length of middle too 2 G-10; length of wing 9^; length of middle tail feathers 2 1-5 ; extent 27 inches. Tlie male bird weighs from 2| to 3 pounds ; and differs from the female only in weight, size, greater distinctness of colors, and hue of the le^-s. Tliis duck, for its size, weight and power on the wing, when in full flight, is very easily stopped with moderate sized shot; and is almost erpial on the table as I have -observed above, to the canvas-back. "With decoys, immense sport might be had off these birds in the rice- lakes which they frecpient ; and with or without them, I would desire no better fun, than to be, under this clear moon beneath which I pen these lines, in a fleet birch- bark canoe, with my old friends An-oon-ge-zhig, and the " Young Owl," to paddle me upon the fowl among the solitary rice-lakes of the lovely Matchedash. My liie on it, if we should sleep on hemlock tips with a camp-lire THE WINTElt DLCK. srs W tI,OUt botl, ,,l,,y „„., ,„,,j„, , ^. ,„,.,, ;^^^,^ ^ who mulerstaiKl it I • KiNlH. ClarK IIEADLEY'S mmmm m^ wis mmimm, ILLUSTnATED WITH OVEK StXTV FI.VU K.VGU.VVlxoa. CUAULKiS SGRinXEU V.S.% JI-ST I'l'LMSIIKD A No'.v and Jlluslnitod Edition of iXAPOLEON AND ins MATiSIIALS. E. J. .. ir.vou... i J 8vo. Over sixty Illustrations. Price, $3.00. LIST OF ILLU3T,1ATI0W3. Niipolooii as Oonoml. " at Cnioniif. Donaparle i)rfsoii(lii- to tlio Diroctory tliu Tre ty of (Jmiiiio-Forniio. f apitulution oC Ulm. TlioMobntthoTullK-rios. Nupolooii r.-prluinndin!,' tho Division of Vaudol.s. NniKiIc'on as Kinporor, Ai-ivst of tho Dulcu U'Enslilon. l!ptiini from Elba. Depart iiro from Fontainbloau. Teatli of Niipolton. rassajro of tlio Hrldgo of Areola. JIarsliiil Davoiist. Napoleon nt Krnsnoe, Death of Jlorcaii, Marshal Laniies. ]lis Soldiers proclaim him -Corporal." IJiittlo of AlKniklr. Cliar^ro of Cuirassiers at Eylaii. Insurrection at Mudriil. .^'arshal Masscna. " Victor. P.assaifo of the Bereslaa Death of Duroc. Eattlc of Lutzen. Marshal Bessieres. I'ass.age to the Tagliamento. tlie Ruins of NapoK-on Dissolving tlio Council of Elvo Ifundrod. rassaKooft!,orMV.atSt.Bernanl. Jiitile of M ironi;o. Sie^'o of .SuniLTossa. Deaih of .Marshal Lannea. It is a KliiL'ofh'omo. Interior of the Invalldcfl. 'I' he Knru'ral Car. 'rill' l^xlinmaMon. ]Marsiial Maei.onald. 15attl(' of ^^^^l^ram. Kapoloon Visiting DierMcln. TliG linrninfr of Moscow. C.'inliiit of l\.re C;.aiiiponolso. Marshal Soult. Battle of Anstorlltz. Marshal .Murat. ^'"■•'■''i^'o to Die Klumon, J^Iarshal .Suciict. Death of Poiiiatowskl Tiio Eorly-Tliird Demi.r,r!^^-.Jo h^ the nattleof irohenlinden." Naixiieon nt Montereaiu Marshal Nej-. Battle of Jena. Napoleon lietroatlng from Moscow, Lord ■Wellington. ^^Vlk "OI^E^J Cm SKETCHES OF HOUSES suited to American Country life. So $1?J ^'^"''"^ ^^'^^ "'"°"'' *"• ^^ ^^""^^^ WiiEELKit 1 vol. 12ma It comincnces witl. the first foot-tread upon the spot chosen for the bouse; details the eonsiderations that should weigh in selccthig the site; gives niodcls of buildings diifering m character, extent, and cost; shows ),ow to liarmoui/.o the building with the surroundin" Boenery; teaches how healthfully to warm and ventilate; assists in selecting furniture and the innumerable articles of utility and ornament used in constructing and Cnishin-vrnd cone udes with final practical directions, gL ing useful limits as to drawing up written do- ficrii)tions, specifications and contracts. "In this noat and tasteful volume, l.v. Wheeler lias condensed the results of an accom- pushed training in his art, and the liberal professional practice of it "Wo can cor-fdently recommend this elaborate production to the attention of gentle- men who ar« about building or renovating their country houses, to professional architects, and to all readers of discrimination, who vish to know what is truly eloquent in this beau- titul art, and to cultivate a taste worthy to cope with "judgment of wisest censure." 1 ho cost of such establisliments is carefully considered, no less than the comforts they Should afiord, the display they can (honestly) pretend to, and all the ad unets that go to complete the ideal of a convenient and elegant ma jsion."— iV; Y. Mirror. "Jt is extremely practical, containing such simple and comprehensive directions for all wislung at any time to build, being iu fact the sum of the author's study and experience as an architect for many years:'— Alba, i >/ Spectator. "Mr. WheeLr's remarks convoy much praeticaJ and useful information, evince good taste and a proper appreciation of the '.eautiful, and no one should build a rural house Auchout first hearing what ho has to reeommend."-/Vatof?e?p/«a Prr'.sbyterian: "Important in its subject, careful and ample in its details, and charmingly attractive in te style. It gives all the information that would be desired as to the selection of sites- the choice of appropria'.e styles, the particnhrs of plans, mate.i.ls, fences, gateways, furni- ture w.nrming ventilation, specifications, cnntracts, Ac., .concluding with a chapter on the Intellectual and moral effect of ru, ai architecture."-i7a;V/o;'cZ Religious Herald. "A book very much needed, for it teaches people how to build comfortable, sensible, beautiful country houses. Its conformity to common sense, as well as to tho sense cJ beauty, cannot bo too much commended."— .V. Y. Courier dc Enquirer, "Xo person can read this book without gaining much u.seful knowledge, and it will be a great aul to those who inton,' to build houses for their own use. It is scientific without beinrr ,, interlarded with technical terms as to confuse the reader, and contains all the in- lormaticm necessary to build a honse from the collar to the rid-o pole. It is a parlor book or a book for the workshop, .and will bo Naluable in either r!ace."-i?««,^^ Commercial. ' "This work should le in the hands of every one who contemplates building for bim.o'f ahomc. It is filled with beautifully executed elevations and plans of country houses from the most unpretending cottage to the vill.x Its contents are simple and comprehensiva. ombracing every variety of house usually needed."— Zoitc-?-! Courier. « To all who desire a delightful rural retreat of "lively cott ,.g«ly" of getting a fair equiv alent of comfort and tasteft.lnths, for a moderate 3utlay, we commend the Kural Homes of Mr. Wheeler."— JV: Y Eccniiig Post. c n e h ni tc bi •I K. MARVEL ^S ^GRKS. TniBTBENTn EDITIOM Of '*^S^Jf?T^, 1^.^*^"^'-°'*' "^*'°^«'*^«°*'"t. BylK.MABVEU IttA Ofl'ctober'*^ ^'""""' ""*" Twenty-flvo IllustraUon^ wiU be ready about the middle fral?;eTtrS'^H«'\'' '""i ''T °V'' '^P*'' of feeling, the beautlfol and inning toril fH^ K? ^?' ''^'°"'' ^^ *^" «l"g"lar fidelity of expression which charac. torlze this remarable volume. Its quaint ingenuity of arrangement is wholly losT to woum hi h W "'" 'T^'' "" ''^"'^'"'^^ ^''''P^"'^'^ '^ ^-- *« sentiment V^whthU Sw^S1^*JX,r ''"''^^ ""* '° "^ "" '^ ™™^ artistic, gem-like "The dreamy, shadowy haze ofreverle, its fleet transitions, its vivid and startlW nan- Eo'^Tr''''' ««-"--. "-"anything of .real life-ar'e .dmlr'brrcpill'^ these delicate pages. The dense and deliberate style, though nowise itself drertnv^^S fLZ Z^ ° ' '"'"^'''^ '"^"^ ''^''""■''''''° P"'''"^^ t° tl^^ movement and tone of the tlieir sequ 1-that will start the memory, with a quick throb, in many hearts. And thorn ^oe^enf^aoid permanent qualities exhibited in it, both olintellect nd of s«ty that give noble promise of a future, and that will make the subsequent pubUcat ions of S author events to be watched fovr-Independent. PUDUcations of the .^IT'^^^II^'' '''° '"° " ^""^ "^ ^'^ ^"^"""^ °'o^f-''l3 away ftom the bustle, and he strife, and the fret, and the wear and tear of a restless existence-who e^^ it thTm in h,s own quiet arm-chair, and think a little for them so easily and so cos Iv that he^ shall fancy his thoughts to be their own ,ollloqules-who can Va^y tlm ff fr m the vho can peel off, here and there, the worldly rind that grows ever-thlckenL ove^Sl be welcomed to a place iuour regards, and cordially recommended to our readers' book- Boeives. —-juoton, « This is a pleasant and clever look ; racy, gonial, lively and sparkling. It Is a book to put one In good humor with himself and all the yfoxl