Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-09-20

ia on my table, this evening, on
< some of my best volumes lis Q
h&of yellow and blaokfeathered
rds. I protested. but Jack I'M !
that, no resting place was too
4 the King Of Birds. Whining
bot to any great extent a sports
citS but there is quite q little
b here to whom the gun holds q
fascination. II q number Of epi-
llpuld be called upon to deoidewhat
hould BIZ called King of Birds,
pould probably name the wood.
Sbut there is an old adnge, "If
VA bird had but the woodoooK's
4fthe would be the best bird that
4id ly,n and this brings Us to
1t3templatiom of the little feathsred
fpho haunts our marshes, on the
y September days. The season
$d.]ast Saturday most proritiously
fH3 birds were favored with the
n OF celebrated actress to
hem MARY Neutrality-suspicious.
ate life as Mrs. james II.
"a, who came on from New York
|ay'a sport. Every afternoon now
1 |tnrsh rings with a musketry Of
\ md among the faces most often
Ikere are james 2. Winchester, J.
th Bush, Theodore B. Rogers
u liam S. Hilles. aE wv
~ September LIST, the river front 10
ia The usual WY to the scene iof
IA is in skitf, with a. "pusher"
;3Fopels it with a pole. Abouttw
fbefore high water the sportsman
Il the reeds and the fun must be
nd furious, as it lasts only a few
|Htt larger than the reed bird and
ftpg few days later, comes the
bird, their cousin, with more
In his blood and a harder bird to
ne. If stone be thrown where
NIL birds congregate confused
Ike "Kuk! kuk! kuk! xxx"
!. from among the reeds, and the
Are rarely visible save at high
\. for fear it is their ruling pas
.S The rail bird springs slngly as
63Ibrtsman advances near him, and
lux down, while the pusher keeps
NM on the SPOT where the bird falls.
+ bort continues for an hour or two
high water when the unwilling
~ the birds to fly obligss the gun
56o return, The sport on the
les here is not what it used to be,
to the rapidity with which the
.2disappear. This has been attrib'
: 10 the uses of the hreech- loading
+ 1nstead Of the old-fashIoned muz-
|6fder, and 1t ia to be derlored that
|8df our sportsmen do not possess the
Idf eyes that can study a wild liv-
ling without arousing an eageI
|fa for its life. Shooting within
If8is a gentleman's sport. Carried
5dd that limit it is vulgar elaugh.
And the man who comes off thu
I'LL Boosting Of his big bag Of gam'
66t always the truest sportsman,
all bird, Of which there are sew
n kinds--the clapper rail, the yellow
4 ]|fhe black rail and the king rail-
5ttear as quickly as they come, ant
LAY lively sportsman may havl
KS can do TO load and reload hi
md the following day find tn,
NH deserted. The rail bird mos
lily seen about our reedy ,frontl
||I8 bron rail. They feed on anima
which they take out Of the
NJ They are expert divers and wedg
AWAY through the rushes with tn
1.&f mouse. Si Z.
M reed bird, or the rice bird IS i
lied In the south, is of very swee
L highly valued by epicuree
IQ1h it is by no means rare Dir
l i0&n be found in all good markets
6rlSs, the rail bird can seldom b
|11]It. As Beth puts it, "the raj
&is the eentleman's game, Will
X ned bird is not requiring so niue
ID. VI or as expensive method {
pfait, is the bird OF the markt
Ni1he we'll known men who used I
I'm The marshes ring with musletry
NV Of them go out now. Whetht
That the sport is not 80 keen as
ii; 81 that skillful gunners hay
|axi4d of the sport, / know not.
IA Milking to one of these old sports
IL the other day, he said that fe
|iiiS ago it was not unusual to brir
Ill., 30 or 60 reed birds with one ba,
|1l7ld that so dozen birds day wel
III brought in. A record of son
n Xhooting down on old Dsrring,
a{iN has been kept, and l was luol
66 to know one of the big slio
III ID me read it. What does ii
|p64t Of today think of this recort
lisa birds brought down in four It'd
16few crack srortsmen OF that SO
i Among them was Horace
kpfo, whose record shows sos birds
&Nme bag in four days. Mr.. Emile
dSa bagged APO. Andrew g.. WI
H NJ; William Jones, 45s, and Il
81 leorge Churchman, GOT. Ephrai
hlton, who was highest boat
I'D a record of S34. This was ra
|a<s and shows a record not surpass'
;SSS Portja.