Nebraska advertiser., 1873-03-27
stght and Morning Among the WMd
Fowl ON - Prairie Greek.

Fowl ON a Prairie Greek.
: - E.itor 0ftLe Sporting Gazstts
SIE,-In prairie land the smaller
rivers are named creeks, and the val
ley- bottoms. These words sound
barbarOu- 10 the English ear but
their AlprOpTIatue-- J. loon conceded
when one -ee- the country. Alter
this preface, permit me 10 describe Tor
Your Feader- al evening and a morn
ing among the Wild fowl upon the
salt Creek. ~h ch runs toy the city Of
Lincoln. the Capital Of Nebraska.
Il J. the beginning OF the shooting
season - this current year and the
cotton wond-a tree resembling an
aspen popular-lhe maple and the
oak. aye putting on their fall tlni-.
Ifi- evening: and Mr.. CaEilidEe. sec
retary 0f the Burlington AMI Missouri
River Railroad III Nebraska. Mr.
George L. Harris. of the same Office.
aud Your Correspondent are ~ "a light
American buggy rartlIng over pIal-
re road east 81 LIucolr. towards a
slough which runs UGt -'Ill and -oI-
ema from tie ~lit Creek. Night l.
b-Esuuiuy L. close ia - Ne reach thr
tlubered bank of the creek. There
l. au old slI partially decayed cot
taugoDsi tree hanging over the water
and Ola a bare and VItherci bougn, IA
p.iet r-Vs-e prairie hawk ! pearch-
I.g The guns are not shJtted for
~ laTs-A tIrt, and 10 viii 10 40 harm
- -taE'le him. a report rings forth,
sui tie hawk gathering himself to-
g,fL-T sails away. Let him hI-
death would not benefit The gunner: /:
and. ~ q fr.e COrnmOueT Of Nature lac
Ea-a right % life.
Drive on through the lush, long
gra--, and where has has been m0Wu,
over meadows smooth A. a lawn. Ne
are on the brink Ofthe >Iough-a Wv
er-like pond. an overflow from the
creek. aul winding broad and deep
ABi1 the bordering gTa--. This l. the
rolling prairie. where the land Tl-r>
aud fall- and assumes fantastic con
tour - the pillows Of the ocean Iu
il- after swell OF storm. The sun
dipping behind the lyw hills ia the
VET, ile shadow are creeping on aud
there = = silence Of loneliness a. near
, a. possible. The sun J. gone, and
Eloug the western horizon ,i.e Ky l.
DARK crimson. which gra Ially MELT
into yellow. and that a ..a no g.
ysaBa -Et.l -Jft green. bef ffT- the - 90
set ;lut~ sT- dissolved into the darK
blue 81 the heavens. Ia The -t-' tLr
r-IrT-Hu -HaiIUr- are repeated e. ..
the clouds that float there are Of a brill
liant plr..-- The IIEAt- upon the
water are beautiful. exceedingly. The
reed like ETA-.e- bend over the pond
and Zach stem, aud branch. avn !
dJuile in the same meiIsm. The
hue uu the water CLEAN with meIAl
ic lu-tfe. and one long reach : char
ed Aith green. which gradually melt
Into misty purple The night deep
en- and the star come Out-the even
Irg tar burning brightly above th-
hl.l- Lich cuTtaiDed the sun. The
silence J. weird The only sound J.
ffDm tie gra--EOPpers. con-
stAu', m0uOtOuOu-, and ~ad. \ -had-
OW pa>-e-, seeming inpalpHnle. II
come- upon the air and meit- into il
IL J. probable The great prairie owl,
wiki wing nearly half yard ia
stretch IL J. part Of the solemn night.
Night ou the..PTairie, and in secIu-
Ged bOtiOm.
There j. nothing that can be called
adventure iu this shooting eXcur-ion.
but There j. DO need - dig out a hiding
place 0u the margin Of the slough, for
the long gra~- affords cover sufficient.
Concealed among the thick. tall stems
We wait for the ducks. They come
Ia twO- 4ni three and tweulies, fly
over the pool and settling upon IL
One gun commands one end Of the
wzteT. aud a seconi gun the other
No wOr = are spoken, but the ducks
fall a. shot after shot i sent forth and
a. the fowl. frighted from one extrem-
ity u the pool, fly 10 the other. Ia
Eu hour twenty teal and mallard have
teen killed. but not all recovered. a.
the dug-A pOluteT-wOTk~ Inefficient
Is H. the darkeued water The bag
however l. sufficient, and there will
be sport for the morning and 80
away IN the starry night home 10
Lincoln.
Morning comes. and there are three
EIu- and tWO i0gs. The sun i ri>-
Ing a. the party reaches the slough
and - he EI-e> the red dawn becomes
burning purple. The life Of the prai
Tie gradually wakeus 10 anew day.
There l. a twitieT from a gras>hOpp r.
l8w note from "a snow bird. and d
ru>tle a. the morning wind bends the
grS~~e-. Flock- Of black birds, very
Ike our starting, only some are patch
ed Oh the back with crimson and 9TH
er- with orange or white. begin 10
wheel around. \ large flock alight>
on a tree at the edge OF a creek. cover
ing 10 as with "a glossy mantle, the
while the birds keep up a sEarp.quick
chipping. They are too small To be
treated a. game on the prairie but If
the spOFt-mau'- sentiment did n0l
protect them. there i a Nebraska
statute which throws the shield of the
law over birds that promote agricult-
ure. or are cheerful in appearance or
In song. II the black birds are not 10
be shot, however, there i little else
60 fall - the gun. IL u even now too
late for the morning flight of the
ducks. and only mallard and wa
ter hen fall 10 the three guns Well
there need lie no disappointment
The lovliness Of the still life in this
prairie valley compensates for the ac-
cideutal scarcity OF game. At least
also, some ducks will enjoy living
little longer. a. the result Of their alb
seuce from the slough this morning
NIATOR.
The COrn-GroWing States Of the West.