FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



to keep the strain on the fish when lifting the 

 rod. 



Apropos to this series of notes, a portion of a 

 letter is here quoted, written to the author by 

 Mr. A. H. Thayer of Monadnock, New Hampshire. 



Dace swarm in Dublin Pond, and are believed by the 

 resident United States Fish Commissioner and others to 

 be the devourers of an immense quantity of the spawn of 

 the trout, hence the decrease of these fish may well be 

 charged to sportsmen who kill such fish-eating birds as 

 the herons, kingfishers, and fish-hawks, which they shoot, 

 or order to be shot, believing them to be great trout 

 eaters. Introducing or exterminating various species of 

 birds, without thorough study of their habits, is proving 

 to be disastrous to fish life in our lakes and rivers. 

 Science is authority for the fact that very few creatures 

 should be spared by the classes who try to kill them. 

 These fish-eating birds get, of course, quantities of other 

 fish to one trout, and if the United States Fish Commis- 

 sioner is correct in the statement that fish devour nearly 

 all the natural spawn of the Dublin Pond trout, it is time 

 that sportsmen thought twice before killing the enemies of 

 the dace and shiners. In the mean time lovers of nature 

 and its study are threatened with the extermination of 

 the herons and other birds that we love to see and 

 hear in their haunts. 



