Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-19
Written for TIE EVENING sTAh
THE ROYAL CANVAS-BACK.
John Chamberlin Discourses Of the
Gourmet's Feathered Idol.


Gourmet's Feathered Idol.
WHERE IT Is POUND, HOW IT rs SHOT AND THE
MANNER IN WHICH IT SHOULD BE COOKED
FEARS OF IT'S ExTINcTIoS-A PLEA FOR IT As
THE NATIONAL BIRD.
I approach a discussion of the canvas-back
duck with a feeling of the profoundest respect.
never can think Of that king of birds without
a watering of the mouth. In the list Of royal
gastronomic delicacies he stands pre-eminent
His annual slaughter begins on the LIST day Of
November, and from then until cold weather
wanes the crack Of the breech-loader on the
shores of Chesapeake bay will announce his
doom. All summer the canvas-backs have been
breeding in the far northern fur countries,
whence in great aocks they are now trailing
their flight to the bays and estuaries Of the At
lantic. Nowhere else in the world are they
found. North America is their only abiding
place. Gourmets hear of them generally as
being shot in the Chesapeake, but they are
found In the shooting season along the Atlantic
coast as far south even as Texas. Not infre-
quently they are shot on Long Island. and
have heard of stray birds being found
at Squan Beach and Barnegat and Egg
harber. Chicago sportsmen find them even
around their lake. Senator Hearst sent me a
Jerome forwarded me barrel full shot from
the grounds OF the Carrituck club in North
Carolina and friend down in Texas sent me
half a dozen which afterward graced dinner
IN the Hoffman house. OF course these are all
canvas-back ducks from the standpoint of the
naturalist, but they are far from being canvas
back ducks from the point of view of the gas
tronomic enthusiast. The bird only reaches
culinary superiority when it alights in
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
and its myriad arms. Here its flesh acquires a
peculiarly delicious and indescribable taste,
which is largely owing to its feeding on plant
called wild celery. This growth is not the nat
ural progenitor of our table celery but derives
Its name from its resemblance to that edible.
Water and climate in the Chesapeake, however,
must contain some other and unknown quality
or condition which brings the canvas-b back duck
to state of perfection, for ! am told
that California and Illinois-I am not
certain about Texas and North Carolina
also supply wild celery as food for the canvas
back, and yet 1T permits of no dispute that the
fowl which come from those states is no more
AKIN to Chesapeake canvas-hack than the rice
bird OF the south Is equal to its own self when
under another name and different food condi.
tons 1t furnishes an incompatible morsel as
the bu.tery reed bird of the Delaware marshes.
As to the canvas-backs which are occasionally
found along the shores of Long Island, their
flesh is not distinguishable from that of ordi-
nary ducks, because in the absence of the
wild celery they demean themselves by feeding
upon fish,
So greatly sought after are these royal water
fowls that nearly all of the available Chesapeake
hunting grounds are now owned or leased by
wealthy gentlemen of Baltimore, Philadelphia
Washington and New York. The ramifcations
of Chesapeake bay, Back bay and kindred es-
tuaries OF the Atlantic make the map of Mary
land look as though holes had been blown
through 1t by a dynamite explosion, and yet
nearly every foot of this winding shore has its
cunning right leased or sold to some stranger
Far out in the water piles are driven
AND ''BLINDs" ERECTED.
These consist of branches of trees-generaliy
cedar brush which does not easily drop its
| toliage-placed between posts so as to screen
the hunter. Decoys are not used because the
canvas-back duck, unlike his more plebeian
brothers, will not fly to them. The velocity
with and the height at which they move make
their capture extremely difficult Another
obstacle to the hunters victory is presented by
| the feathers of the breast, which are SO COM
pactly laid SO elastic and so matted together
by the oil from the glands that the bird is
protected as though by coat of mail, and an
ordinary shot striking the breast as the bird
flies toward the hunter would be DETECTED as
though from the steel plates of one of the new
government cruisers. The best sportsmen wait
with steady nerves until the birds fy by aud
the feathers. To do that requires extraord binary
GOODNESS.
OF course this national prize commands such
| high figures in the market that there are men
who are willing to sink the natural noble in
stInct Of the sportsman to accomplish their
destruction These adopt various prohibited
measures tending toward Wholesale slaughter.
One OF the most familiar of these is known az
''toiing." This consists in building the blind
on shore within few feet of the water mark
Through an opening in it common cur, odd
| in color and size, but trained to his work,
emerges and trots up and down in front of the
screen and performs all manner of curious
antics. Canyas-back ducks are afflicted with
an Unsuitable curiosity and although they will
| not come near a decoy, the dogs maneuvers
| soon attract their attention, and strangely
enough they swim in body toward the odd
| object until they come within range of the
hunters gun. Then, if they are not lover
shot, they can be picked off one after another,
nor will they go away if the dog continues
| his movements until the last one is killed It
| is needless to say that this method of capture
| is looked upon along the Chesapeake much as
| the theft of horse is considered in the far
| western country. Nearly every year new laws
| are passed to protect the canvas-back by for
bidding all unsportsmanlike methods in his
pursuit and by recent regulation the state of
Maryland only permits his shooting on three
! days of the week-Tuesday, Thursday and
| Saturday.
WATCHING covEY.
| 1t is beautiful and interesting sight to
watch feeding covey Of these ducks from be-
| hind 'blind." They seek the wild celery
| beds frequently in company with the red-head
ducks and while in the waters Of the Chesa-
peake they will starve rather than eat any
other food. Their red-headed brethren, how
ever, are not so particular, and, while they
prefer the wild celery, when they cannot
obtain it they will readily gorge themselves
| upon fish, which diet, OF course, speedily
alters the delicate flavor of their flesh.
| The ducks dive beneath the water and with
| their powerful bills tear the succulent growth
| away from its bed. They cannot swallow il
beneath the water and when they rise to feast
| upon it it is frequently plucked from them by
the daring widgeons or bald-pates, which are NOT
divers. These rapaci )us foes the canvas-backs
| drive away with wing and beak, but the
| widgeons are agile and stealthy, and, therefore
| are frequently successful in their thefts.
THE COOKING
| of the canvas-back involves problem abou,
| which there is much discussion. It is a simple
feat and yet most difficult one; simple. be-
cause there is so little to be done; difficult be-
cause that little must be done exactly SO OF
else all is lost. Having drawn the fowl. cut
away the head and neck in one piece and skin
| them. Leave the bill intact. This is import
| tant because in these days Of frequent culinary
| fraud, people whose palates do not tell them
infallibly what they are eating are apt to be
o,,cn and fbav will 10 ka x,sEad ~