THE CANVASS-BACKED DUCK.

No game 1s more highly valued by
sportsmen than the Canvass-Backed Duck.
Its flesh is esteemed a great delicacy, and
they frequently sell for two dollars a pair.
About the middle of October, vast flocks
of them visit Delaware and Chesapeake
Bays, and the numerous streams that run
into those bodies of water. Their prin-
cipal food is a kind of sea-wrack, known
as eel-grass, and the insects and shell-fish
to be found along the shores. On their
arrival the Canvass-Backs are lean, but
by the beginning of N ovember, they are
in good order for the table. They are ex-

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