Evening star., 1901-08-13
REEDIEs ON TOAST
KtEUitS UN tUASI
The Succulent Season Will Begin
With September.
SPORfSMEN READY FOR TIE SHOOTING
New Law Satisfactory and Every
body is Expectant.
CONDITION OF MARSHES
CONDITION OF MARSHES

| CONDITION OF MARSHES
Gunners and gourmands alike are look
| ing forward with pleasant expectations to
| the opening of the reed bird season which
| September will usher in, and the month to
| follow will be filed with satisfaction both
| for those who kill and those who eat.
| The time for shooting marsh Inhabitants
| Of the feathered variety in this vicinity Is
called the reed bird season because of the
| tremendous migrasions OF that species that
goes north singiy or In couples in the spring
| as bobolinks to return in the autumn in
immense flocks as the brown and yellow
feathered reedies They are not alone in
their southwark journeyfngs. however. for
| with them comes the mysterious ortolan.
| the yellow-legged plover, jacksnipe. robin
breast snipe and other long bills and ducks
! of several varieties.
| SpOrtsmen Prefer Ortolans.
The ortolan is most favored by the sports
man, as he is not flock bird. He rises
singly and futters away an easy mark.
but his kind is almost as numerous as the
others, which roam in fiocks.
The favorite abiding places for these
birds in the immediate vicinity of Wash
| 1ngton are the marshes of the Eastern
branch, while little farther off in the
| PatuXent river they are even more nu-
1 merous. The amendment to the District
| game law, which makes the shooting of
| all marsh birds legal after September l.
goes into effect this year.
rms measure removes many conditions
| that nave been unsatisfac ctory and vexa-
| t1ous In the past The statute governing
the past two seasons was particularly So
The trainers of it, in endeavoring to do
| away with former irregularities, made
| matters worse. The inequalities in aues-
tfon Were the provisions formerly in force
which permitted the shooting of marsh
| blackbirds on and after August 20, but
| prohibited the killing of reed birds, ortolan,
snipe plover ducks and such birds until
the first Monday in September. Under that
| law gunners would go out under pretense
| of killing the blackbirds and shoot the
other varieties, which are not in condition
| at such an early date. and, what was
worse keep the migrations going south
ward by constant fusiilading. instead of
allowing them to remain and feed on the
marsh oats and increase In both fat and
number
Made Matters Worse.
To prevent this custom, the law was
| changed opening the reed bird and ortolan
| season simultaneously with that for black
birds on August 20. A provision was also
| included prohibiting the killing OF any
marsh bird except on Tuesdays. Thursday
and Saturdays of each week The idea Of
birds to rest and feed, the impression being
that better sport would be afforded on the
open days 1t proved, however, to be class
legislation. because it made Labor day, the
holiday OF all workingmen in the District,
hundreds of whom are ardent sportsmen
who cannot afford to lose days wages
for sports sake. closed one, as it falls on
the first Monday In each September.
A realization of this situation led to the
change of the law by amendment by the
last Congress and hereafter shooting will
be legal every day In the week on and
after September 1.
Prospects for Coming Season.
The prospects for the approaching sea-
son are very good. Marsh blackbirds> are
already appearing in great numbers on the
Patuxent, and many focks are seen along
the Eastern branch. The oats on the
i marshes in the latter stream are not as
thick they were the past two seasons,
and while the thicker the oats the more
numerous the birds. it is also true that
getting at the latter under such circum-
stances Is more difficult. gunner, to be
successful in killing ortolan or reed birds.
must be pushed through the oats in q
skiff. A good 'pusher' is as necessary
requisite as good gun and the knowledge
of using it.
The 'pusher'' Is the man who owns a
skiff and rents it and his services for
stands in the stern of the skif and pushes
the craft along by means of a long pole.
The Pusher's Important Duties.
He Is familiar, If he knows his business.
with every square rod of the marsh. He
marks birds as they rise, and If necessary
calls the attention of the gunner, who
stands near the bow Of the skiff, to them
He marks where they fall il killed OF where
they alight II missed. and in the latter case
pushes" to that point. Put two men of
equal skill as shots in two SkiffS and let
have RXDert and the other in
expert pusher and the man with the expert
will come in at the end of tide with
twice as many birds. A tide" means high
tide. 1t Is almost useless to hunt Ortolan
when the tide is low, because the oats are
then standing in mud and pushing is I'm
possible, while the birds are close to the
roots When the water Is up the birds
cling to the oats above it and are readily
flushed.
Opening Day Dangers.
AS Labor day falls on September this
year the marshes hereabouts will probably
be crowded to a dangerous degree, and
old-timers will probably wait until later
to get in their work The opening day of
the season Is always attended with more
or less Of the peril of being peppered for
those who go out, and as pretty near every
man and boy who has a gun and uses ary
kind OF old shot that comes handy believes
1t to be his duty to celebrate the seasons
opening the peppering sometimes Is Sc
rious. The load used by Intelligent Ortolan
shooters Is not dangerous. It usually con-
sists of half or three-Quarters Of an
ounce OF No. 10 shot and two drachms Of
powder. But it Is not unusual to find sea-
son-opening shooters banging away with
an ounce and an eighth Of No. 6 shot and
three drachms of powder.
The pushers who keep their skiffs at the
main headquarters of Eastern branch gun
ners at the east end Of Benning bridge at
John Fraas' place are putting their boats
in order and expect q good season. There
is general overhauling- down at the
Patuxent Rod and Gun Club. the Globe
Club and the jackson Landing Club on the
Patuxent with the same intent and the
usual number of parties from New York
and Philadelphia are expected in the later
vicinity with their steam yachts and