The Newtown bee., 1908-05-15
PROTECTION FOR GAME BIRDS.
 PRESERVES, ETC.

alive to the need of better protection for our game birds and the enforcement of the statutes governing the same. The experiences of the past Fall dur ing the hunting season brought this home to many one who had not heed- ed the lessons of other sections that had once been good game country and now are almost birdless, for we sit up and think when the shoe pinches our own foot. The scarcity of cartridges is truly alarming. All sorts of theo- ries are advanced, but the bad breed ing season must be considered as a chief cause and something certainly happened to good many broods of young birds that were known to have started and yet when the hunting sea- son opened, no young birds could be found in that section. Whether it was disease or not that carried off the young birds is the question we eager ly seek an answer to. One who has
 followed this burning subject and
 worked for protection for some years after having been afield all the fall and spent much of my time in the woods thus far this winter and noting the, pitiably few cartridges remaining in the covers,I would like to second the admirable article written by Edward Taylor of Sandy Hook where he pleads
 for preserves for the birds. Going among the sportsmen this Fall heard
 repeatedly that foxes, hawks and owls were prime agents in killing off our game birds. Foxes, especially are cred tied with great killing and said to be increasing; no doubt they do their share
 and the flight of goshawks, last winter
 killed good many more, but they,
 goshawks, do not come often. The hunt ing season was but a short while opened when it was apparent that the
 birds were scarcer. The fact, it was repeatedly claimed, and not generally admitted that there was less birds in the covers at the beginning of this sea- son than at the close of last season and scarcely any young birds. Many of the hunters got discouraged and stopped hunting. Many more, be it to their credit, when they found the true con- ditions hung up their guns and were willing to give the birds chance to recuperate their numbers.
 True sportsmen. who know the joy of going abroad in the autumn woods, took their enjoyment in the associa- tions of glen and wood and working dog, killing little, seeing that future sport depended upon leaving the covers with plenty of breeding birds. Others. and there was too many of them, hunted as hard as ever they did and kept at it consistently. know of one man who boasted he lost but three hunting days this Fall, and then "it rained so hard he couldn't go out" Scattered around,
 as everyone knows, are men who stop work at the hunting season and spend their time hunting, and they did the same this year. The effect of this hunting is now fully apparent to any, one, while few cartridges are gath cred in some favored locality; for the most part the birds are very scarce in general. l know one man who killed seventeen, another who didn't keep track, but got pretty near thirty. and others who did well. With the foxes to work all winter to further diminish their numbers, if we have another bad breeding season, next Spring, the re- suit will be most disastrous. Herein lies the value of preserves. That in time of scarcity the birds would have some place of refuge where they could be safe and where after breeding they would again spread out on free hunt ing land and the danger that now con fronts us would be lessened.
 Disregarding all the lessons of the past, some of which, as the Heath hen, or Primated grouse, once plentiful south to Virginia and now only less than two hundred of which exists. The decrease of snipe splorn and many others, with our increased population,
 more efficient guns and good dogs, many seem to think that there will be no reckoning for them in Connecticut. But it must come. The farmer who posts his land is look ed upon with dis favor and often called mean" when he objects to hunters shooting over his land and he seldom gets credit for en- toying the whistle of Bob White more than having them shot, or enjoying the burst of wings as a partridge springs from beside his cart path. But so long as the farmer does rot kill them off himself or allow favored few to dc so, he is one of the best friends of pro- tection and doing unconsciously much for the cause as the increase must go over on free land and after survey of Fairfield county the free land is as ten to one. Look down any of our, har- bors to-day and you may see the sea gulls flying back and forth often with in short distance from the busy bridge with their burden of traffic and remember that here is an object les son. The gulIs were in danger of exter- imitation because of the use of theil feathers for millinery purposes. The Audubon societies had their breeding places protected and their killing pro hibited and now they are becoming again abundant, acting as scavengers free of charge along our water front. And they have quickly learned that there is no longer danger in coming