50 



JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



its history are local, and refer to 

 species ouce abundant on our coast, 

 but now rapidly decreasing. 



Of no species belonging to the fauna 

 of our state, or of those which annually 

 pass its boundaries, is this fact more 

 noticeable, than with those belonging 

 to the orders Anseres and Limicolae, 

 and last but not least, those of the 

 subfamily of Laridae, the terns. 



That the rapid decrease of the differ- 

 ent species under consideration are due 

 to man or his agents, directly or indi- 

 rectly, is at once apparent when we 

 look the situation over. 



The first and greatest agent in the 

 almost extermination of many of these 

 species, has been the gun, with its 

 improvements, with no restrictions as 

 to the number killed, or limited time 

 in which to shoot them. At first only 

 the local gunners hunted the sea ducks 

 with which our coast abounded; for, 

 during the winter months most atten- 

 tion was given to the birds, as the in- 

 clemency of the weather forbade the 

 occupation of fishing to a great ex- 

 tent. 



At first they used the flint-lock gun, 

 and they ought not to be begrudged 

 the result of a well directed load, as 

 partial payment for the trouble of re- 

 moving the powder from their eyes 

 after each discharge. Next came the 

 percussion cap. This revolutionized 

 the flint-lock, as the agent necessary 

 to ignite the powder was protected in 

 a better way from the weather, and 

 more often assured the discharge of 

 the gun. 



As fast as the gunners were able, 

 the film was discarded for the tube, 

 necessary to use the cap. Another ad- 

 vantage in this improvement was that 

 with the flint-lock the spark from the 

 flint, necessary to discharge the gun, 

 must flrst ignite with a small amount 

 of powder, called the priming. 



This was held in a small receptacle 

 called the pan, on the outside of the 

 gun, which in turn discharged the 



load. The flash of the powder from 

 this arrangement often caused the 

 ducks to dive beneath the surface of 

 the water in time to avoid the load. 

 The percussion cap overcame this to 

 a great extent, as the ignition went 

 direct through the cap tube to the load 

 withous exposing the flash. 



This gave another advantage to the 

 gunner, but lessened the chances for 

 the birds. As the style of the gun de- 

 pended on the financial standing of 

 the owner, any gun which could be 

 adapted to the improvement was used 

 to save expense, while the more for- 

 tunate ones obtained those which came 

 with the improvement. The rapidity 

 with which these guns could be dis- 

 charged depended on the stoicism of 

 the owner, and the amount of breath 

 he could expend upon his fingers, while 

 adjusting the cap on the tube. As the 

 schools in those sections at that time 

 were poor, if there were any at all, 

 the boys naturally acquired a disposi- 

 tion for the sport of their fathers, 

 which was handed down from father 

 to son. 



For a boy to have a gun depended, 

 not so much on his age as on his 

 strength to carry one, and it was as- 

 tonishing to see the load of iron those 

 boys could carry if it could have been 

 adapted to a load of powder and shot. 



At that time the Scooter Ducks, 

 known as Whitewing, Butter-bill and 

 Patcli-bill coots, could be taken in 

 large numbers from any of the estu- 

 aries which afforded them food. As 

 all sea ducks obtain their food by div- 

 ing and tearing the mollusks (their 

 principal food) from the rocks, they 

 could remain under water two minutes 

 or more, the time being governed more 

 or less by the depth of water and 

 abundance of food. While the ducks 

 feed around tlie shores of the main- 

 land, and islands, the ruggedness of 

 the rocks screened the gunner from 

 their view as he approached near 

 enough to shoot at them; but when 



