The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-04
WOODCOCKS PASSAWAY
sP0kTshEN NO LONGER FIND
 THEM PLENTIFUL.
Wood Duck Also Rapidly Being Ex- terminated - Stringent Laws Necessary to Prevent Ruth.
 less Destruction.

soAAAaoh. ootn piros. and especially the woodoock, were once plentiful and popular in Maryland. They are as popu- lar as ever. but by no means as plentiful. ana IT their present rate of destruction continues unchecked the time is not far distant when they will be chased as be- longing to extinct species
 fears ago, less than a quarter of A cen- tury ago. woodcock afforded abundant August and September sport to those who were willing to face the flies and mosouj toes in the low woodlands where the bird made its habitat and where it was found by the average Gordon setter. Now. af- ter a morning or afternoon of patient work in the woods. the sportsman returns with his game bag empty.
 Secretary Wilson. of the Department of Agriculture, has been in oorrespondence with the officers of the game law asso- ciations of the several States, including the Maryland Association, in regard to the adoption of protective measures. MT. A. k- Fisher. ornithologist of the biologf- cal survey at Washington, has investi- gated the reports of the vanishing of woodcock and have found the reports true. He says that In localities in Mary land where twenty-five years ago a fair shot. with good dog, could secure forty or fifty birds in days hunt, 1t is doubt
 
 now be obtained in the same time.
 A Popular Bird.
 It is the peculiar misfortune of the woodcock to be so highly prized as to in- vite destruction. It is favorite quarry of the sportsman, and when bagged it is so eagerly sought by the epicure that 1t commands a high price at almost any season of the year, so that 1t Is eagerly pursued, in season and out of season. by the butchers who are sent out to shoot things for the market.
 The woodccck Is a native of the East ern United States, but is rarely found west of Minnesota. Iowa, Missouri, Arkan- sas and Louisiana. Its favorite place of abode Is where cane or alder swamps abound. and where springy hillsides and marshy ground along the streams fur nish extensive feeding places. It winters mostly in the South Atlantic and Gulf States. particularly in Georgia and Lou isiana, but in mild seasons a few are found, even in winter, as far of as in Illinois and Southern New York. Usually, however, the majority of the birds return to their Northern haunts early in spring, reaching New York by the Ist of March, or even a fortnight earlier. The remarka- ble thing is that these birds breed throughout the whole range. Young birds
 
 as the latter part of January; in Florida, 1t Is said, the eggs are laid early in Feb ruary; in the month of March nesting takes place in Southern Illinois and in the neighborhood of Washington. D. c. The regular nesting season fin New Eng land is about the middle of April, and in the most northern parts of the range MT. Fisher says that it is often as late as June before the young appear, and we'll into July before they are wholly able to care for themselves.
 One would think that bird which is so widely distributed could be in no great danger of extermination; yet the fact Is that the woodcock is becoming so rare that its total destruction seems to be at hand. Its natural enemies, such as the cat, the red squirrel, the sharp skinned hawk and other similar crea lures, destroying many thousands of course; and many thousands more are often destroyed by storms during the time of migration, but it is the wholesale butch cry to which they are subjected by the hand of man that is threatening their ex- tinction.
 His Winter Home.
 Speaking broadly. 1t may be said that the winter home of the wodcock Is con- fined to nine of the Southern States
  sippi Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas. Ala Dama and South Carolina. But in the first seven of these States the birds have ab- solutely no protection. From their arrival In the fall until their departure in the spring they are killed ruthlessly, and as there Is no law to prevent the shipment of the dead birds to other States. they are mercilessly slaughtered for the Northern market.
 ,..s.- States give protection for part of the enforced as vigorously as they ought to pc; and while spring shooting is tolerated n Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee, summer shooting is still per- nitted in nine States in the District of and on Long Island. As these birds lay only four eggs and rear only ,ne brood in the season, 1t Is easy to see hat summer shooting is as fatal to the lestlings as shooting in the earlier nest ing time; and the brute who in few lays kills 800 or 600 of these birds Is real y responsible for the destruction of D. 100 or 5000. How, then, is 1t possible for l bird which Is thus pursued during it's whole winter soJourn at the South, and which Is still pursued even during sIeing md summer in many Northern States ong to resist the process of destruction If which it is perpetual victim?
 The only way to prevent the complete iisappearance of the Woodcock from the United States is for sportsmen to unite ogether to procure the enactment of avs forbidding the shooting of this bird except during a short season of not over iix weeks, and even then strict limita- ion should be placed on the size of the 1ag. But better still would 1t be If there could first be "a universal close season covering two or three years" for In that ease. says MT. Fisher. the restoration of his noble bird would be assured.
 The Wood Duck.
 That beautiful creature, the wood duck s also doomed to eXtermination, unless efficient measure shall be taken to prevent ts rapid destruction. MT Fisher de- sribes 1t in a pleasant way: 'The wood luck, or summer duck, Is the most beau .iful of all the members of the large and diversified duck family. and on account 1f its beauty and lack of shyness it Is one of the best known species in the It is not exclusive. often making ts abode near towns, or, perhaps, in the vicinity of farm houses. where 1t may be found feeding or associating with barn. yard ducks. It takes kindly to domestica- jon, and Is easily tanned and induced to breed in captivity Its favorite haunts are small lakes, weedy ponds. or shady streams in the midst of, or in close prox- mity to- scattered woodlands, and except turing migration, 1t is rarely met with about open bay or large bodies of water" It's range is wide. extending from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario west ward to British Columbia, and south uard tbroupb the Tinted States to its