Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-08
who brings in good bag of them ID hunter
;nd
TWO VARIETIES OF TEAL


TWO VARIETIES OF TEAL.
There have been . good many teal about
here this fall, understand, but a. yet have
not seen one. We have two varieties on the
Potomac-the blue wing and the green wing.
Inc blue wing is highly priced by epicures on
account OF it's delicate favor. 1t is the first of
Its tribe that returns to US in the autumn from
its breeding place in the north. They are little
fellows, symmetrical and graceful. 1t flies
rapidly and when it alights drops suddenly
IKE woodcock or snipe. The name Of the
duck Is derived from the splotch Of blue it has
on either wing. Now the green wing teal 10
distinguished just the same way. It has q
green bar on either wing. But by far the
handsomest plumaged duck the Potomac can
boast of is the wood duck, or, as it is more
commonly known, the summer duck. Its color
varied mixture Of all the colors Of the rain
DOW, blended In perfect harmony and richly
pencied. hood Of feathers. long and fine
trees and have been known time and time
again to carry their young to and from the nest
in their bills.
THE SUMNER DUCK
never flies in focks. With the most beautiful
plumage We will have the summer duck and
look, az women always do, for the most stylish
ana graceful-for what good are fine clothes if
you haven't any style? For grace the pintail.
another OF our river ducks, takes the prize.
Inc plntail Is very handsome bird, its head
ana neck being rich brown, its back gray with
| black penciling, and the throat, breast and
ABDOMEN snowy white. While swimming it
carries us long, pointed tail elevated and its
tnln, serpentlne neck swaying in all directions.
IL Is good table duck. The black head is
announcer OF our river ducks, SO called from the
color OF its head, and although classed IN the
same category as rock, under the general term
| OF trash ducks" possesses many good points
and makes capital cheap table duck. In this
connection might be mentioned the butter
pan, duck resembling the golden eye, Of
which Twill speak hereafter. This little fell
low, the smallest of ducks, plays little part in
game dinners, as its flesh is
NOT ESTEEMED AS A TABLE DELrcACY.
while the golden eye is pretty to look at it
Is not good to eat, for, like the ''hell diver"
feeds on small fish, and its flesh has fishy
mayor, which makes it unpalatable. There is
one duck, however, that l want to call your
attention to. 1t is called the crow duck, and
1t Is well named, for it looks for all the world
like crow. Its feet are peculiarly constructed,
the web being separate on each toe. Some
people think Its meat excellent, and hotel men
swear by It, for it takes the place of teal and
costs about one eighth as much. Now, the
shoVeler duck, commonly called the shufller
| ID a regular patron of the Potomac. You can
tel II by Its peculiarly shaped bill 1t resem-
pies spoon and is provided with a set of teeth
IKE strainers, on its edge, whereby the soft
animal matter is retained and the water
strained through And now for the king of
ducks and his lord chamberlain. It is need
less for me to explain that the canvas back is
King and the red head his lord chamberlain
RED HEADS AND cANvAs-BAcKs
SO closely does the red head resemble the
canvas-back that it takes an old hand to dis
ungulsh the difference. Its flesh is much
priced and very much like canvas back. But
me king OF ducks, what shall l say of him
TINS grand specimen Of the duck family. known
all over the world as the greatest of deicacies?
One thing is certain-he is priced more when
Killed on the Potomac than anywhere else. The
wild celery is so plentiful in this river and the
ducks get so fat that their bodies have been
known to actually burst
Just a few lines about how to kill ducks
Down here people prefer to shoot from a blind
Now blind Is nothing more nor less than four
poles driven In the form of square on the ducks
feeding ground and provided with floor u few
feet above high water and hidden by weaving
| evergreens all about it. In here the hunter sits
while outside, in front of the blind, is arranged
his stool OF decoys, which sit as naturally AZ
possible. Keeping his eyes constantly moving
to the right and left he espies flock of ducks
coming IN" and prepares to shoot. Some
times the ducks light among the decoys
but generally they dart and speed by. This is
the hunters chance and he takes advantage of
It. II successful he calls to his man on shore
who comes out in a skiff and picks up the
dead game. It's awful cold out there when the
weather Is disagreeable, but 1t can't compare
Win 'Dox shooting" for unpleasantness.
SHOOTING FROM A BOX
is not allowed in some of the counties of yir-
ginia and Maryland, yet every pot hunter uses
box. 1t is an uncanny- looking thing. resem-
bling coffin more than anything else. On
every side are large canvas flaps called wings
and these extend over the water and buoy the
oox and the gunner up. Having selected a
MI hn hAw.
decoys put out, several iron ones occupying
positions on the wings. Then the hunter gets
III, assumes reclining position and waits for the
game. Pretty soon flock darts and the occu-
pant rises quickly before they get away and
gets in a couple of shots with more or less dis
astrous effect. But it takes genuine sport,
to the manner born. SO to speak. to hunt ducks
IKE tins, for on cold day, with the snow fall
world.
who said he had often shot in boxes and was
anxious to be put in one. We fixed things IN
Tor him and started out for some cartridges.
About mile from home we heard terrific
firing. Bang! bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!
bang Running back We found our friend
standing up in the sink box calling loudly.
We took a skiff and brought him ashore and a
slcker specimen you never beheld. His mouth
was actually blue with cold and he remained in
bed for week.
THE SNEAK BOAT BEST.
You may talk about your blind shooting and
your sink box shooting. but as for me give me
sneak boat. This is skff covered with ever
greens to deceive the ducks. 1t takes two men
to operate a sneak boat successfully, one to
shoot, the other to paddle. The way the thing
is done Is like this: flock Of ducks is sighted,
say ], 200 yards away. You paddle until within
about 400 yards Of them with the regular
double blade paddle. When you get that near
draw out your creeping paddles small pieces
OF board IL inches long and about inches
broad. Lie down then your stomach and
put your arms over the gunwale of the boat on
either side and gently paddle without remov-
ing the creepers from the water. In this way
you can get within easy shooting distance and
rarely fail to drop your game. But then it's 20
exciting, and with true hunter that's half the
pleasure. l would like to tell you something of
what world of harm these steam launches are
doing to the ducking On the Potomac. How
they chase them all around until finally they
leave,A but it's getting too late tonight The
scarcity of ducks these late years has been due
wholly to this and the big gunners, who hunt
in the night, and not only slaughter great num-
bers, but cripple hundreds that they do not
pretend to get Nj