"Some time since, while out ducking on Dividing Creek, a tributary of Chesapeake Bay, a hen duck, known as the dipper species, came within easy range of my gun. I discharged both barrels, completely covering and breaking her wing with No. 4 shot.

"Being determined to capture the game, a friend and myself secured a boat and went in pursuit. Getting again in gunshot reach, I discharged two more barrels, killing the duck to all appearances.

"We picked her up and removed the feathers and entrails, cut her head off and put her in the water for the purpose of washing the blood off, when, to our astonishment, she swam away, giving us another pursuit, which was successful after some trouble. I can prove this."—Richmond Dispatch.

JUNE, THE MONTH OF BATTLES.

In the Season of Roses Have Been Fought Some of the Most Sanguinary and Decisive
Contests of Modern Times—It Was a Period Fatal to Charles I and Napoleon.

Though June is frequently called the "Month of Roses," it might with just as much propriety be designated the "Month of Battles." In it have been fought some of the most memorable battles of history. Among these were Naseby, Bunker Hill, Marengo, and Waterloo. In the following list will be found the names of some of the more important engagements that have been fought in this month:

June.

1.Lord Howe defeated and almost destroyed the French fleet1794
The British frigate Shannon captures the American frigate Chesapeake, off Boston1813
McClellan defeated the Confederates at Fair Oaks, Virginia1862
2.The Reign of Terror began1793
3.Admiral Blake's decisive defeat of Van Tromp1653
Lee defeated Grant at Cold Harbor1864
Hobson sank the Merrimac in Santiago Harbor1898
4.Kléber defeated the Austrians at Altenkirchen1796
5.Pretoria taken by Lord Roberts1900
6.Capture of Memphis, Tenn.1862
7.Capture of Mamelon earthworks, at Sebastopol, by the French1855
Siege of Jerusalem begun by the Crusaders1099
10.The Russians defeated Napoleon at Hielsburg1807
Russia captured Khiva1873
The Confederates defeated the Federals at Brice's Cross-Roads, Mississippi1864
12.The British defeat the Boers at Diamond Hill1900
14.Final defeat of Charles I, at Naseby, by Cromwell1645
Battle of Marengo1800
Napoleon's decisive overthrow of the Russians at Friedland1807
Napoleon's defeat of the Austrians at Raab1809
15.Siege of Saragossa begun1808
16.Napoleon's defeat of Blücher at Ligny1815
Marshal Ney's indecisive attack on the British at Quatre Bras1815
The Federals under Grant attacked the Confederate lines in front of Petersburg, Virginia; fighting continued throughout the remainder of the month1864
17.The battle of Bunker Hill1775
18.Frederick the Great's defeat by the Austrians at Kolin1757
War declared against England by the United States1812
The battle of Waterloo1815
Battle between the French under Grouchy and the Prussians at Wavre1815
19.Sinking of the Alabama by the Kearsarge1864
21.Encounter between the Leopard and the Chesapeake1807
Wellington's decisive victory over the French at Vittoria, in Spain1813
23.Clive's great victory at Plassey, near Calcutta1757
24.The Austrians defeated the Italians at Custozza1866
First engagement of the Santiago campaign, at Las Guasimas1898
The Scots under Robert Bruce defeated the English at Bannockburn1314
25.Battle of Little Bighorn—The Custer Massacre1876
26.The Federals under Fitzjohn Porter defeated the Confederates under Longstreet at Mechanicsville, Virginia1862
27.Peter the Great defeated Charles XII at Pultowa1709
George II defeated the French at Dettingen1743
Indecisive battle between the Federals under McClellan and the Confederates under Lee at Gaines Mill, Virginia1862
The Confederates under Johnston defeated Federals under Sherman at Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia1864
28.The American sloop Wasp captured the British sloop Reindeer1814
Capture of Silistria by the Russians1829
Battle of Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina1776
Washington defeated Clinton in the battle of Monmouth1778