ANIMAL SANCTUARIES IN LABRADOR 481 



paying quantities. But other egging still goes on unchecked. 

 The game laws of the province of Quebec distinctly state : " It 

 is forbidden to take nests or eggs of wild birds at any time." 

 But the swarms of fishermen who come up the north shore of 

 the St. Lawrence egg wherever they go. If they are only to 

 stay in the same spot for a day or two, they gather all the 

 eggs they can, put them into water and throw away every one 

 that floats. Sometimes three, four, five or even ten times as 

 many are thrown away as are kept and all those bird lives lost 

 for nothing. Worse still, if the men are going to stay long 

 enough they will often go round the nests and make sure of 

 smashing every single egg. Then they come back in a few 

 days and gather every single egg, because they know it has 

 been laid in the meantime and must be fresh. When we 

 remember how many thousands of men visit the shore and that 

 the resident population eggs on its own account, at least as 

 high up as the Pilgrims, only 100 miles from Quebec, we 

 need not be prophets to foresee the inevitable end of all bird 

 life when subjected to such a drain. And this is on the 

 St. Lawrence, where there are laws and wardens and fewer 

 fishermen. What about the Atlantic Labrador, where there 

 are no laws, no wardens, many more fishermen and ruthless 

 competitive egging between the residents and visitors ? Of 

 course, where people must egg or starve there is nothing more 

 to be said. But this sort of egging is very limited, not enough 

 to destroy the birds and the necessity for it will become less 

 frequent as other sources of supply become available. It is the 

 utterly wanton destruction that is the real trouble. 



And it is just as bad with the birds as with the eggs. A 

 schooner captain says, •' Now, boys, here's your butcher's shop : 

 help yourselves ! " and this, remember, is in the brooding season. 

 Not long ago the men from a vessel in Cross Harbour landed on 

 an islet full of eiders and killed every single brooding mother. 

 Such men have grown up to this and there is that amount of 

 excuse for them. Besides, they ate the birds, though they 

 destroyed the broods. Yet, as they always say " We don't 

 know no law here," it may be suspected that they do know 

 there really is one. These men do a partly excusable wrong. 

 But what about those who ought to know better? In the 

 summer of 1907 an American millionaire's yacht landed a party 

 who shot as many brooding birds on St. Mary Island as they 



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