The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-08-29
akzr1Ne auADr roR .,HraDlEs.s
rRsrs~'ses nre rrspnr,aH far the Opening
ofshs seassn.

Coincident with the dscadeuce OF the
summer season and e approach OF au-
{Nlnn nomes the local sportemen with gun
And game bag to enjoy The rare sport of
shooting the reed and rail- bird In It's haunte
along the mafshy reaches which bound
the Delaware River near this olty aud on
the New Jersey shore yeeterday marked
Inc opening OF tho season In Now Jersey
though In this state It will not DO lawful
90 shoot tho birds until Monday.
According to reports tho birds are In
greater abundance THE year than for soy.
ofsl seasons past aud gunners are anticl-
pnting better returns Tor the expenditures
OF powder and shot than for many years.
The erowth OF reeds In the marahes lie
much heavier than usual and as q conse'
Quence the crop of reeds upon which tho
birds feed 10 very large. The reed bird
10 migratory III its habits and comes north
from tho Southern States avery year about
Tho middle OF June remaining until the
cold weather causes II 10 sock a warmer
chime.
In South Carolina the bird Ia known as
the rice bird q oognoman derived from
ifa fondness Tor that grain. In other $50.
fions. as In Virginia, IL ia named tho bobo.
link. but wherever found it's delicate
Qualltiee make IL toothsome bird. for
The eptcure. 1t 10 very small kind. hard
" as large as the ordinary sparrow. The
feathers ure dark gray with the exception
of those on tie breast. which are quite
Partiee are being organized and next
Sunday evening there will be grand
rush tor marshy tracts, where there 10 al.
ways fine sport to be found. Old sports
mon say the blrds were never In better
condition or more numerous than this
year and they predict an exceptional sea.
son. They deplore the tendency OF mon
who never shoot but once u year to go
down cn the river banks In large parties
and while expendinR much powder ami
making great deal OF noise do little
harm to the birds. though they succeed
Ia driving them from their haunta.
They also say that these amateurs make
the sport positively dangerous by their
fecklees and tll-dlrected shooting. There
10 never q season th1t there are not sever
al casualties recorded. After next Mon.
day and until the middle OF October tho
river banks will be dangerous ground.
SHOOTING IN JERSEY.
As usual at the opening of tho New
Jersey season large contingent OF Phila.
delphia sportsmen left the city for the
New Jersey shore in order to lnaugurate
the sport Mt q bright aud early hour this
morning. The authorities on both eides
Of the river kept vigllant wntch on Sun.
day for any enthusiastic sportsman whose
toEdness for reed aud rail blrds made him
forget the restr ctions of tho law. The
influx Of guuners on the New Jerssy side
was very large. although in spite OF their
numbers and apparent eagerne5s to
ubkln tue onslaught on tnelr 10nthet0u
vlotins. no violations OF the law were ro /.
ported.
Many OF the sportsmen favor Mantau
creek. where rail- birds abound. and also
Timber and Newtown creeks, which are
about ten or twelve miles below Philadel-
phla on the New Jersey side of the Della.
ware. hoBasons Island. opposite Ches-
ter, is also fRvorite resort for Runlers
and this morning The lnsular tract will
probably be the Jersey channel. Chester
Island ls also an exoellent shooting
ground. and every fall is much frequented
by reed bird shooters. Tinicum Island,
about twelve miles from Philadelphia. has
. great reputation as being u rendezvous
Tor reed birds, though as it:is In Pennsyl.
vapnia the birds can live In uninterru pied
sn1oyment OF their existence until next
Monday,