Daily Republican., 1879-09-05

honor upspOttsd, and never permit w
be tainted by the touch Of the rspudia
tor, whether he comes In open assault
or in artful guise, with1ilvery tongue
BAIL AND REEDY.
The Legal CeFds Cat and Sports.
man and Dog let loose ON ths
Needles - Marsh Mud and Fal
Birds, etc.
The sharp "crack I" "crack I" of the
|gun Of the marksman and the richochet.
ting Of tho leaden pellets among the
reeds bring sweet music to the ear Of
the sportsmsn. The reed bird law IL
out to day and those susceptible to tae
troublous yet fascinating sport Of reed
and rail bird shooting with gun and
dog, are out among the ssdgewsed and
wild grasses Of our marshes.
The sameless "peep I" "peep!" Of
the fitting focks, IS they fly to and
fro among the reeds is unceasing and
the great clouds that 60 from point ia
point in quick successiou are evidences
to the mind Of the sportsman that an
unusual reed bird season is upon u.s..
In neighboring States the law expires
on September 1st, but the wisdom Of
the statute of Delaware on the subject
is shown in the fact that the birds be
tween the first and fifth have time to
fatten, and instead of their being thin
and consequently difficult to shoot, as
in Psnnsylvania, they have time to fill
out which makes them heavier and
deadens in measure the rapidity Of
their flight.
The bird which has become such q
delicate tid-bit upon the table Of ths
epicure is migratory in its habits. Farth-
er north it is known as the bobalink, and
the tuneful "spink, spank and sphinx"
brings delight to the homes Of the rus
tic, and whiles away the hours of the
weary night with season of delicious
melody. As the summer closes. and
autumn with its days Of melancholy
dreariness advance, he trills his parting
note and lifting himself gracefully,
wings his fight southwark and settles
among the reeds and marsh weeds
which skirt and over run estuaries,
creeks and rivers.
The nature indigenous to the cool
woods and bright fields of the north is
left behind him and he assumes a rus
tic drab color and with ashrill "peep I"
"peep!" drops among our reeds and
gives himself up to aseason of gormand-
izing.
As September advances he becomes
plump and juicy and being too fat to
escape the unerring shot from the rife
he drops byst the thousands.
As our season becomes colder he
thinks Of seeking another climate; and
with frame weakened by his long fight
he plunges into the rice fields of the
south and there he feasts. He lives
for no other purpose than to satisfy an
unsuitable appetite, and SO fat does he
become that the piccaninies of the plan
tation 20 out and gather them up with
comparatively little trouble.
These are his habits: While in Della
ware he is blessing. Hunters look
eagerly for his incoming, and in antiti-
patton thereof make every arrange
ment for successful prosecution
of the season. Thousands upon thous-
ands fall and as fast as the birds are
brought in they are eagerly bought up
at as high as dollar dozen. This
makes the sport lucrative one, and
boys and men sally out at early morn,
in great numbers.
To-day being the opening of the sea-
son, the masculine portions of our
county invaded the marshes in mum
bers and the constant explosions that
come in from all parts of the suburbs
tell plainly Of the great slaughter that
is being carried on.
Aside from reed bird shooting there
is another equally as lucrative and that
is the hunting of rail birds. The sue
cess of this sport depends upon the
tides. The bird is peculiar in its ma
ture, waiting for food at the bottom of
reeds and near the waters edge. If|
there is high tide then the game is
forced into the marshes where the num-
ber killed is only dependent upon the
ingenious and skillful manipulation of
the "pusher."
Good "pushers" of whom there are
quite a number in our city. add mater
ially to the success of days pleasure.
By constant practice they become adopts
and this knowledge is valuable not only
in the search after ''rail" but also in
The hunt after ''reedies."
So great is the demand for these gen.
try that from the early part of the
season their services are constantly en-
ragged until the close. his fall will be
10 exception, but on the contrary
Judging from the great number of par
les who left the bridge this morning,
he demand will be beyond the source
# supply.