58 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



"I've only seen Canada Goose an' Brant," his 

 uncle answered; ''they feed on eel-grass mostly, 

 an' I ain't never seen one dive. For that matter, 

 I don't reckon Swans dive, either. There's any 

 amount o ' Whistlin ' Swan on Currituck Sound, but 

 I've never bothered with 'em, though some folk 

 like their meat. They're handsome enough, I'll 

 say that for 'em. Long 'round the first o ' Decem- 

 ber, when a thousand or two Wild Swan, each bird 

 weighin' twenty pound or more, with a four foot 

 spread o ' wing, fly over yo ' head, it 's a right pretty 

 sight. That don't stop the 'sportsmen,' though. 

 The birds ain't no manner o' use to 'em, but the 

 rich dudes from the city come down to kill 'em — 

 just for the sake o' killin'! 



"An' there's another thing about this bird pro- 

 tection business," Bull continued, heating up with 

 the subject again, "and that is that these here 

 game laws are jest fixed up for the rich. I can 

 kill fifty duck a day an' ship 'em to the city mar- 

 kets. Folks who live in the city an' ain't rich, can 

 have a bit o ' game once in a while that way. 



"The game laws try an' stop that. The poor 

 mustn't have no game. Ducks have got to be pre- 

 served an' protected so that the rich 'sportsmen' 

 who haven't nothin' to do in winter can come dowm 



