The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1906-09-22
HE mARY BLACK DUCK.
Hablts q = Bird That IeEu IL
ski aid Pzrencs cf =
Huntsx

The Dlzek cIck = Infinitely wzEJ
ana lnr1-llseut, Es is : Fzl1z5le prlzss
t1s huzz j. tnrllling z11 z11s % yozr
fund 0f F1oisso1s msu0rles. says tie
Connseticat AoaILly kse0r1 To O1t-
vii ia vigilance and sin the privilege
u handling h.s firm ~. Wil1-soente1
Dlumass requires = thorough sxperl-
encs u lis habits. A eager love q
hunting azd TIE Drzetics q the Cars
iian qualities Of Dzr.eacs. EzteAfai-
ness. long suffering and endurance
Viihal. : quick eye Is needed and
such shooting judgment as enzbles
one. partly ~ sound. 70 hit Ehiz-
ring Efsezk of feathers travelling
through the darkness ~ 40 miles Al
hour.
This clean c1t water fowl Il = night
rover. b Day be rests far out IN tne
sCuD>, where his wzfehfulness pro-
tscrs him from largs craft. and where
Il 10 perlIO1s for a duckling bOzt--gei-
ting caught on shore By = northwest
wind - very serious. and q cardinal
calamity u the lonsshorsman's htany.
Clans, musseis. snails and certain
marine roots growing a. the shores
and In tie marshes are his food. and
ne eats no fzh. but feeds a. the wa
ter's edge.
When dusk comes he sets out for
his restaurant, selecting Il as the tide,
wind and weather promise besi. Some
times be files toward the shore. 70
drift on the flooding tide toward the
beach; sometimes he flies into the
marshes-thOse broad acres Of salt
meadow drained By q labyrinth Of
creeks, 20 common IN southern Con-
necticut: sometimes he flies miles in
land 70 country mill ponds and forest
lakes.
Our black duck has compound lenses
for eyes and travels BY sight. not BY
instinct. In fog he will not stir un-
less alarmed: dark nights he flies low.
but keeps well up when the skies are
nOonlit. When he flies over a mead
ow he seeg all that Is going on there;
he notices and remembers landmarks.
and you viii rarely shoot one from
newly built blind. His ears are keen
az an owls.
An old Maine guide-a close observ-
er--once told me that "black ducks
can smell like a fox" but John Bur-
roughs, the dean Of the American
feathered college. says their power Of
scent Is small. In storms I have had
them fly up the wind, almost into my
face: I have often laid on the beach
and watched them drift within short
range: with scuIling boat. m~sked
by rushes. they are very easy Of ap-
proach.
Mr. Burroughs says the black duck
never Iicsts here. In this he is in err
ror. l have caught the young ducks
In our creeks; and at Stratford, on
the island-well known to local hunt
ers--one or two oroods are hatched
out every year.
The main flight comes from the
north in early October. Some stay in
the north all winter, but the most go
on south, To return in February. These
travellers can be easily identified by
their bright reddish pink legs and
feet.
The black duck never dies unless
wounded, and then he develops all the
submarine agility Of the loon. do
not believe he will 90 down. hold on
to the bottom and drown rather than
be caught, although they often disap-
pear, hiding in muskrat holes or stick
ing an Unseen half inch Of bill out Of
water when compelled to come TO the
surface for air. I have dropped a
black duck in a narrow shallow creek
and watched him swim under water
with wings and feet, trying to find a
hole In the bank.
You are hunting bird whose ears
and eyes are far sharper than yours,
who IS automatically alert and suspi-
cIous, who has no curiosity and takes
no chances-anything unusual, and he
is gone. He pays little attention to a
low lying motionless object, but w!'l
detect. when a mile away. the muzzle
Of gun stirring against the sky
line.