THE PIED DUCK 227 



sudden as some naturalists suggest. The evidence 

 seems to suggest that the species was by no means 

 a common one in the early days of American 

 colonisation, and that it must have been on the 

 verge of extinction a century or more before that 

 became an accomplished fact. If we admit the 

 possibility of the above surmise, it is easy to 

 understand how the Pied Duck was eventually 

 exterminated, for we know that the remnant of 

 the species was ruthlessly shot down at the breed- 

 ing-grounds, and the decimation commenced 

 undoubtedly by the Indians during earlier epochs 

 was eventually complete. Again, as Mr. Lucas in- 

 forms us, " a possible cause for the original depletion 

 may have been the taking of eggs by the Indians, 

 for the Eider, which breeds along the southern coast 

 of Labrador, suffers severely from their depreda- 

 tions. A small dog is trained to hunt through the 

 bushes near the water's edge, the favourite nesting- 

 place of the Eider, while his master silently paddles 

 along close to the shore to note just where a bird 

 is driven from the nest, and in this manner many 

 eggs are taken. Now, if the Labrador [or Pied] 

 Ducks bred over a comparatively small extent of 

 country, near the summer camp of a band of 

 Indians, their original decrease would be readily 



