Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-08-15

| birds one could see nothing but
dull, uniform, impalpable sheet hung
before the eyes. Sea met sky; lst it
was impossible to say where. The
stream Of birds seemed 70 end not
far away, but all the time as one
looked. the meaningless blank at the
tail Of the stream would tremble and
twinkle, and then burst and scatter
in movement as more and more birds
came into sight. They grew out of
the sky. as the conjurer's propertie;
out of nothing. Thousands and
thousands they came-clouds Of
starlings, battalions of rocks, jack
DAVIS flying in friendly unison with
the rocks for the old hostility of the
spring was forgotten and the coming
hostility not foreseen), plovers, and
on the edges of the column scattered
larks, vedettes of the invading army.
But now in these winter days all
these birds are distributed about the
country, perhaps ignorant Of whence
they came and whittier they will go
when the migratory instinct shall
grip them again. Thousands of gray
crows-"Danes" the Norfolk people
call them-always remain faithful,
however, to these marshes, and with
vigor which they had not when the
first tapped down exhausted on the
beach, croak their unCeasing warn.
ings at you from the gates and dyke
bridges.
1t was at sunset on certain Gay
able cabin of the boat with our guns
to wait behind the bank of creek
for shot at the fighting duck.
Every morning at dawn the ducks,
which have fed all night in the
marshes and fields, flight" out to
sea, where they :oost all day, to re-
turn to their feeding grounds at dusk
in the evening. The chilly saffron
lights in the west cleaned on the
mudbanks. The frozen grass crum-
pied like pie-crust under our feet as
we walked. The air was filled with
the cries of birds, which became more
and more distinct as the world inland
became more silent. Tho beat of
harmless waves on the sand-barriers
beyond tt ) flats made a monotone
which was almost like silence. The
high ground inland ingled with the
inky cloudbank, but still a church
with a nobly proportioned tower
stood up clear and grand. and seemed
to be thrusting its way across the
horizon like a great liner on u sable
ocean.
The darkness increased. a par'i2-
ment of ducks in mere inland
quacked out noisy discussion.
Stints, knots, and curlews told one
another without ceasing that the
night had come. The sucking, gurg-
ling sounds waxed in the creek as the
tide flowed; the ice was reEt with
continuous small explosions as the
water heaved it upward. Surely the
ducks must have all passed over our
heads already, very high up, as their
custom Is, when there is no wind. A
gale is necessary to beat them down.
Just when we had almost given up
hope Quacking sound from the sea
came near. and louder, and the air
shivered with the whirr of wings.
One might have fancied strang,
things in that dark, eerie space, after
the long wait with strained eyes and
ears. The beating of the dark wings
might have been mystical tongues.
Hundreds of ducks passed too high
up for shot, but three came rather
lower, with meteoric curve, aiming
for the dyke behind us. 1t was
longish shot, but the choke barrel
carried far enough, and the satisfac-
tory thud of one of the three falling
on the frozen earth proclaimed more
than one could see. That was all
right, and the dogs nose would not
fail because it was dark. More wings
beat over our heads; bird wnistled
past like bullet and came down on
to the ice behind, but 1t was invisi-
Bile. Our bag was the smallest possi-
Bile, it is true, hut the bag did not
matter; the experience was one of
those that count In the memory of a