, 1876-12-09
WILD FOWL SHOOTING /!
THE SEASON OF SPORT WITH
DOG AND GUN.
THE TRUE spoRrsmAH's ELYsIuM.

Inc lnU6 SFVntCMHN IIctUM.
They come! They tear the cleaving air
With pennon swift and strong.
Ger clouds they leap, thro' vastly deep,
The vaulted dome along
The year is fast being gathered in
to the granary of the centuries. 1t
has had its bloom, its maturity and
its sheaf of golden plenty. And now
the naples are leafless and bare,
while the stubble fields are tawny
and brown. A white frost glitters
on the window-panes as we retire
and lie awake to hear the hoarse
clangor of the wild geese, as with
mighty but weary wings they fan
the thin, frosty air. Far from the
Northward their strong phalanx has
fownin the form of a V, like the If
resistable Mississippi regiment at
Buena Vista. So down comes the
trusty breech-loader and the pockets
of the capacious duck jacket are
lined with strong powder and clean
punched wads, while flask of "Jes-
Sc Moore" or "Noble" protrudes
from the breast pocket. All aboard
for
THE swINoMIsH FLATS,
Which lie about sixty miles to the
northward of us. These flats or
marshes are about ten times the size
of the far-famed Lincolnshire fens
of England, where every sportsman
goes to have his rap at the scream
ing wild fowl that almost darken the
air at sundcwn when they come in
to feed. Small bitches intersect
these flats in every direction and the
wary hunter, crawling along on the
ground can hide below the level of
the withered grass along their banks.
He must breathe low and move slow
ly for the wary mallard will hear
him and dart off, with hoarse croak-
ing, to a broad pond where he won't
be caught mapping again. These
ducks are always fat at this season.
THE sPEIG-TAIL DUCK
Is our favorite of all the larger
game and may be denoted by the
narrow streaks of white along his
rich crest of dark brown. This duck
has real gamy flavor and never
eats fish of any sort. It's favorite
food Is the wild celery but it fattens
on the wapato root which grows on
the bottoms of all these northern
streams. 1t is best shot from decoys
to which it will fly very readily if
the hunter will stay quiet in his
"blind" and not get in sight too
plainly. tits hardly as large duck
as the mallard, but of higher flavor
and we greatly prefer it lin these
regions) to the famous
CANvAsS-BACK DUCK,
Which is so highly priced by gour-
mands on the Atlantic shores. In
the Maryland and Virginia waters
this duck lives entirely upon wild
celery, from which it acquires its
delicate flavor. But here it is very
destructive upon young oysters, and
when it can't get them it eats small
fish, which greatly impair its deli
cacy. On the Potomac these birds
are shot by ''toling," in the follow
ing manner The hunter lies down
in his blind while his dog races up
and down the beach, a distance of
sixty yards in front of the blind.
This novel sight amuses the silly
ducks and they swim in towards the
shore, only to prove an easy prey to
the fowler's unerring aim.
THE TEAL DUCK
Is the smallest of all the duck fam
lily, and affords splendid sport. We
once got in a glorious shot at flock
on the Nisqually bottoms, while
hunting with the genial Jim Pray,
who remarked, as he saw us bring
down four with the right barrel and
five with the left, ''By Jove, I be-
lieve 1t just rains ducks These
little fellows are very gregarious,
and often may be seen in numbers
approaching hundreds. For a
breakfast broil they surpass any
bird that flies, save the golden plo-
yer of Hampstead Plains and the
jack snipe that goes zig-zag over
our marshes. In our markets they
rarely retail for more than two dol
lars per dozen, and single ones can
be had for two bits.
WILD GEESE
Are very plentiful on all the green
grass lands next to the marshes; and
whenever a fresh water spring comes
from the hills, there they congre-
gate to pull the tender young blades
of grass. The black-breasted gray
goose, so common on the plains of
the Sacramento and San joaquin, is
almost unknown here; but the
"honker," or Canada goose, is far
more plentiful. They come along
with shrill cries at the approach of
rain, and sweep grandly along on
their lofty fight of fifty miles per
hour. In California they are easily