Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-07-19

in the figures which touch on -.
presen. and future of the birds tba.
they follow afield The reports -
all sections of the country show H..
there has been in decade and half
decrease of so per cent. in the nn,nbo,
of wood ducks, mergansers, redbaa5,
and canvasbacks
The men who gather the b,r,
statistics have given TO the hest =,
their ability the reasons for the in
crease or the decrease as the case ma.
be in the bird ranks. A large npnho.
Of them say that spring shooting i
largely responsible for the gradual ey.
tiuction of many species They ia.
clare If it is allowed to continue nn
checked during the spring months NJ
the next fifteen years the epicure vim
have to feast his eyes instead of M
palate on canvasback duck. and to M
this he will have TO look at a stuffa5
specimen through the glass case of .
museum. Why the mergansers shou,8
have decreased is past finding out. No
true sportsmen will shoot a mergansar
unless he likes TO kill for the sake of
killing. The bird is absolutely useless
for the table.
The advocates OF spring shooting
point to the census figures as Showing
some other reason than March and
April sport must be found for duck
6iminution. There would seem 10 he
some ground for their claim because
many species of ducks, among them
some that are followed ruthlessly in
the spring, have held their own in
numbers, Among these are the green
winged teal the mallard, the widgeon
and the pintail. 1t is pleasure ia
note the blue-wlnged teal and the
delectable little rudy duck have in
creased appreciably, taking the whole
country through.
There is large part of the country
where, If there were no spring duck
shooting, there would be no shooting
at all. The birds avoid these sections
in the fall because of the lack of water
In the spring the mating season is al
hand, and, in fact, in many cases the
birds have mated before the close Of
season comes, aud this fact more than
any other gives strength to the argu-
ment ae44ast apIins shooting
Grouse of various kinds have de-
creased largely The quail, where any
kind of effort is made to protect ID, and
where the farmers make some pro-
vision to give it food in hard winters
IS holding its own. In places where
pot hunters and other irresponsible
hunters abound the quail is becoming
extinct. The report from small
sections of country where the birds
have been shot in season but have
been left absolutely undlsturbed for
the rest of the year show that
satisfying amount of sport may be had.
and the birds vii still hold their own
in numbers. 1t is declared positively
as one Of the results of the statistical
work that there is no reason why
ruffed and pinnated grouse and quail
should decrease in the farming
districts unless they are shot out Of
season.
The effect of plume hunting and pot
shooting in the southern states for the
northern market is startlingly shown
by the bird census returns from Flor
ida and Texas. Since the year 1885
feathered life in the southern PENN
sula state has decreased II per cent,
while the diminution in the lone star
state is only per cent less Florida
is now trying to do something 70
protect its birds. Agricultural inter-
estS have suffered so severely on ao-
count of the slaughter the state
authorities have been aroused.
The woodcock is certainly rapidly
nearing the end of his race. The bird
is not shot in the spring but in many
states the hunters are allowed to 60
after him in July early floods drown
out his young; and, unlike the quail.
the woodcock is easily discouraged,
and stops nesting operations after one
misfortune, The bird commands
high price in the market, and he is
followed relentlessly by the gunner
who shoots TO supply the table OF the
man who can afford to pay s150 a head
for his birds.