BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 63 



The opinion seems to be quite general among sportsmen 

 and anglers that this is a noxious bird, because it eats fish. 

 Probably, however, when its food is thoroughly investigated 

 it will be found to feed on the enemies of the fish also. 

 Minnows destroy the eggs and fry of trout. The fish-eating 

 birds apparently serve mainly to keep the biologic balance 

 true among the fishes and other animals on w^iich they prey. 



This bird, when cooked in the ordinary way, is about as 

 palatable as a stewed kerosene lamp wick, but some people on 

 the coast are able to prepare and eat a Sheldrake now and 

 then with a clear conscience. There are some hardy gunners 

 and fishermen whose appetites are so good that it is imma- 

 terial whether they are eating flesh, fish or finnan haddie, and 

 I have been credibly informed by some of these enthusiastic 

 coast gunners that they actually enjoy eating a Sheldrake or 

 two in the spring after a hard winter. 



Since the above was written, my son Lewis E. Forbush 

 has informed me that he saw a mother Duck with her young 

 on a pond in Worcester County, Mass., early in June, 1907. 

 She carried some of the young on her back. He also says 

 that he and others saw three Ducks flying about in the neigh- 

 borhood during the summer. From his description, all these 

 birds must have been Mergansers; but he is not positive 

 whether they were of this species or the next. Under the 

 present law, which forbids spring shooting, it is quite prob- 

 able that Sheldrakes will breed in New England in increasing 

 numbers. 



