The times., 1898-08-29
THE Reed BIRD HUNTERS
Season of Their Sport Rapidly
Approaching.
HIGH is THE JOY THEREAT
On the Morning of September I the
Flats and the Marshes Will Re-
sound With the Coughing of Shot
gums, and Many Fat, SuccuIent
ortolans May Fall in Consequences


just now. Next Thursday morning, COM
mencing at just one minute after IL, there
will be a fusillade from shotguns of every
description, all over the flats and marshes
which surround the city, and thousands
OF the fat and succulent reed birds and
ortolans, which have been thriving for
months on the seedy reeds and river
weeds, will fail into the huntsman's
game sacks In the meantime there are
guns to clean, shells to load, old hunting
seasons to talk over and fresh routes to
be mapped out hence the local sportsman
hnds II necessary TO be somewhat agile.
The Luscious Reed Bird.
The game season. or that of it which
pertains TO the most delicious of all game,
the tiny reed bird, opens in the District
of Columbia on September i, and with
the hunter bold but wary that date is
fully as important as the Fourth of July
or Christmas
Hundreds of local gunners. from the
colored denizen of Willow Tree Alley
southwest, with a muzzle loading musket
which saw service in the Civil War, to
the fully equipped and properly dressed
sportsman, with modern hammerless gun
and canvas game bag, will throng the
marshes of the Eastern Branch the flats
OF the Potomac, and the swamps on the
virginia side of the river and there is an
incessant bang, bang for DAYS until tbe
birds become wary and hard to get at.
The first of the season. however fur-
nishes enough excitement to outlast the
BIRDS, and there are various institutions
IN the city, municipal and otherwise.
which make extensive preparations to ex-
tend helping hands to the victims of Sep
tember l. The Emergency Hospital per-
maps, hsnres most conspicuously.
Undesirable Excitement.
with hundreds of men shooting in all
directions, on small tract of ground,
with reeds and bushes growing high
above their heads, the chances are very
| much in favor of some one getting pep
pered with bird shot The reed birds
fly low, too, which adds considerably to
the danger. Hardly a shooting season
| passes that some luckless hunter is not
taken 10 the hospital TO afford the. sur
| geons there an opportunity to expert
/ ment in picking out shot
1t Is said that there are more fine birds
on the marshes this season than there
/ IN a large measure to the stringent laws
which the Fish and Game Protective AS
sociation OF the District succeeded in
having passed, and to the untirng efforts
| OF Major Sylvester chief of police, in en-
| forcing il. Before he became chief of DO
ice Major. Sylvester was an enthusiastic
worker in the association and was made
game warden of the District
a new law which was enforced for the
! hrst time last yeaE- was responsible too
| Tor the absence of violations Hitherto
the pot hunters in Virginia have been
| shooting birds ont of season and sell
! ing them to restaurant keepers in Wash
ington. This year however. the law
| making II illegal and punishable by A
fine for any dealer. 20 sell game birds out
| OF season was tested and sustained
several of the restaurant keepers who
violated Il being fined. This, of course
put an effeetuaI check upon the buying
OF birds. and the pot hunters were OUT
OF an upation.
Tricks of the Trade.
There are tricks in the trade of not
hunting, as dn a good many others, and
ne who eats t1le reed bird must have ex-
perience ito be sure OF his rnorsel. There
is many a succulent bit served, crisply
broiled, on a brown and flaky piece of
toast under the name of reed bird
which, before ii fell victim 10 snare or
gun, was consigned to obloquy under the
despised name of English sparrow. over
near the Long Bridge. and we'll known
to the river men, there is a snare hunter
who has been dubbed Sparrow John
for SO many years that his proper cog
nomen has long since been lost sight of.
Johns occupation is a pot hunter for
the cheaper restaurants in Washington.
But ne does not sell reed birds, although
they are given that name before they
reach the consumer. John sets his snares
at the opening of the reed bird season,
in convenient Virginia woods and mead
| ows, and snares English sparrows by the
hundreds. All the old tough birds he sets
at liberty, but the young and tender ones,
of this years Matching, he kills, picks.
cleans and sells as reed birds when he can
deceive the restaurant keeper. and as
sparrows when he cannot. These spar
rows, which are really very good, but
lacking in the fine flavor and melting ten
derness of the fat reed bird, can be pur-
chased in some places for about cents
each, on toast.
The great hang-out in Washington for
sportsmen at the opening of the season is
the gunshop of William Wagner, on Cap
itol HILL Mr.. Wagner is one of the Oldest
anu DOSA hiiOnh SlOl lSIItU III the CITY.
| and never a year passes but does not find
him padding in and out among the
Eastern Branch in a fiat bottom boat,
popping away at the birds which arise in
| fiocks all around him. He does most of
the loading and printing for his friends.
and enjoys the distinction of having load
ed shells for President Cleveland when
| that celebrated duck hunter was in the
White House.