The daily gazette., 1883-09-26
RAIL SHOOTING,
Experiences in Hunting the savory Orto-
lAn-1h he Lore of the Pushers
ERalairnn.o o..


baltimore SUM- Z
Rail shooting on the salt water marshes
OF Maryland and Delaware is now in it,
zenith. The birds are here by tens OF
Thousands. and the scattered wild oats have
covered their eucculent little bones with
savory fat that is so welcome to the epicure's
palate. The marshes OF the Patuxent rivers
have fer the past two weeks been almost
overrun by hunters from Washington and
baltimore, but the mysterious and cheerful
rdllus has not been at all discouraged, and
bis family has apparently suffered no de-
crease. Bags have been made by single
eportsmen in single tides as high as 210.
Very few who have gone out have failed to
make moderate bags, and there is the uu-
falling reed bird, which anybody can kill If
the rail proves so unkind as to decline to
ny IN the way of the shot.
Rail shooting possesses an individuality as
distinct as does duck shooting. You 20
after them as you 20 for no other game
bird. Usually expense, hard work, wet
feet and q bad cold are necessary attendants
on the sport. II has, however, q peculiar
fascination that NO gunner can put aside.
The rail is q queer little bird. Naturalists
know quite as much of the habits of the
prehistoric aptoryx as they do Of the rail be-
You'd the simple facts that he Ia of brown.
gteenish hue, has long green legs and lives
III mAtbAcu. Au4CCu buC very EuGu VINO MAKE
rail-kiliing their business know very little
more about them. There are three or four
kinds OF rail, but they are 80 much alike
that nobody can tell them apart. The rail-
of MHryland,is is sometimes erroneously called
the ortolan and is often known as the sora
He is not quite so large as the jack -snpe,
has long legs, shert bill, q rather long
neck, perky little tail, totally inadequate
wings, At this time Of the year he ia found
H. - L..
States, where he paddles around and
GROVE Unfortunately fat on the wild.
oats that are, according to the dark
les, being "frazzled out" He who would
hunt the rail must have a shallow boat that
draws about three inches OF water and an
able bodied man who can "push" him
through the high grass and high tide. The
rail hates to fly, but when the bows of the
boat are urged 1pon him he jompi up with
a feeble futter, and his lon green legs
dangle out benin IS he hops over the butter
weed and sinks down again about 10 yards
from his starting point. He is not bard TO
kill, only you must be quick about It. If
you succeed In abbreviating his flight by
sprinkljng few No. 10 shot over him, your
pusher will mark and pick him up for you.
II you make up your mind to go rail shoot
ing on the Patuxent, load about 200 shells
on the day before; put 211 draelIms of pow
der and three quarters OF All ounce of shot
In each; clean your bFeeeh-lOader and carry
your wiper with you, for constant firing will
| foul the barrels. Go down TO Upper MARI
boro' or Nottingham, on the Pope Creek
Line, In the evening and make your ar
| rangements for an early start. Along the
Patuxent river, which divides Anne Arun-
| die and Prince Georges counties, from Mt.
Pleasant Ferry nearly TO the mouth, there
are fat marshea which overflow at high tide.
| These marshes cover thousands of acres and
are grown up In the rankest vegetation. At
| numerous points along the river contiguous
to the marshes boats aud lpushers may be
hired for 81 per tide. A tide lasts not over
| four hours. At this time Of the year the
food tide on the Patuxent makes about sun
| rise. At 10 O'Clock the pusher will be un-
able to get you over the best fats of the
marsh. II you want q steady, hard-work-
| ing pusher, get . white man. II you want
| u be entertained with choice dialect expert
ences instead of pushed over the best
marshes, get colOred man. If you are a
greenhorn, a lazy pusher will scud you
around where there Is no possibility OF sport,
| simply because it is easier upon the consd-
tuition. He will be quick, after your two
dollars, though, and grumble II you don't
/ share your lunch and your flask with him.
| The colored pushers, when they are rot
pushing, are usually spending their money
| around some country store. The white
men, as a rule, own comfortable houses.
| and are farmers ard tobacco raisers In q
small way. So much for the pushers.
Supposing you are launched upon the
| Patuxent about the ''scTeech" of dawn by
Que OF these energetic gentlemen who pro
| pels skittish little tiat-bottom with single
| paddle. He tells you that the food tides.
| "a-makin lak' a mill tail !" Down the rivdr
| you saoot toward the high green grass. The
| early morning mists hang over the wet land
scape, obscuring the distant ridges and re-
| calling unpleasant thoughts of shakes aud
| quivers The bright sun soon dissipat,,s
these, however, and the catspaw waves
dance in the sunshine. Below you the pop,
pop of guns show that some ardent sports
men must literally have slept onthe marshes
| in order TO catch the whole tide. The cries
| OF thousands of blackhiTds assail your
ears Every variety Of blackbird, from
the purple grackle to the chipper
little cowbird, is feeding on wild
oats. The handsome little fellow with
the red crescent on bis shoulders is particu
larly conspicuous. They circle and wheel
and hang on TO the high weeds like noisy
black witches. You also see quantities of
birds shaped like an English sparrow, with
yellow breasts and q mellow note, single and
repeated often. "What is that, you 8sk2'"
"The reedbird, sah,' replies your pusher
''Reedbirds % you gasp with astonishment
as visions of three little creatures on toast
for 20 cents fash through your mind. "Why
there are millions OF them" Every lew
kills them, sir" says your pusher. "SporUs-
men pereiers railses and pOt-hunters can't
get more n quarter for bunch on 'em;
so they won't kill 'em." You let go bar
rel at two or three of the little beggars that
are chirping and swinging on the tall
reeds, and on picking them up,
you find them as fat as butter. The
report of your gun, however, is
answered by sound that comes
; from all around YOU 'wheep, wheepee,
ehnckle, cIuckes, wheep, Whe-e-e-e."
'tThem't railses, ,sir, ''says yonr pusher. Hear
'em talkin';" and with q strong thrust OF
} his crutch-shaped pole, he forces the boat
! into the wild pats and butter weed. Righ,
. from under the gunwale W al, ,attenuated-
! looking thing flies up. "There, sirl'' sings
J out the pusher. You look, and the strange
looking creature drops into the weeds again,
"Why didn't you shoot, sir. That's rail, y
| is the pusher's somewhat contemptuous re-
mark "oh, ahl didn't--why, wasn't
| well, let's get him up again. He lit right
I Wonder " 1'You'll never get him up again,
) driiy remarks the pusher. "He's 25 yards