148 GAME AND ITS PROTECTION. 



cessary — that illegal profits will not equal legal 

 punishments ; but their customers should also dis- 

 courage, by withdrawing their patronage, conduct 

 that is so injurious to the public interests. "Wood- 

 cock would not be shot in spring, nor quail in sum- 

 mer, unless the demand for them were sufficiently 

 great to pay both the expense of capture and the 

 danger of exposure; and, with a diminution of pur- 

 chasers, will be an increased diminution of the num- 

 ber of birds improperly killed. 



Birds and fish, except in their proper seasons, are 

 always tasteless, and often unhealthy food. A set- 

 ting quail or a spawning trout is absolutely unfit to 

 eat, and to do without them is no sacrifice ; but for 

 the sportsman to restrain his ardor as the close-time 

 draws towards an end, and when others less scrupu- 

 lous are filling their bags daily, or when in the 

 wilder sections of country there is no one to com- 

 plain or object, requires the heroism of self-denial. 

 Nevertheless, the effect of example should not be 

 forgotten, and the duty of the true sportsman is 

 clear and unmistakable : he must abide by the law ; 

 or, where tliere is no law, must govern himself by 

 analogous rules. 



In the wilderness, it is true, where birds are abun- 

 dant to excess, he may without blame supply his 

 pot with cheeping grouse or wood-duck flappers, if 

 he can offer hunger as an excuse; but not even 

 there, unless driven by extremity, can he slay the 

 parent of a brood that will starve without parental 

 care. In the settled regions, no matter how great 



