M4 



TJic Avierican Angler 



This territory abounds, as outlined in 

 the foregoing, in ponds and lakelets, 

 and especially is this the case with its 

 lower sections — Plymouth, Middleboro, 

 the upper Cape Cod towns, and their 

 neighborhoods. These ponds, often 

 well stocked with perch, pickerel, black 

 bass, etc., in the Winter, or cold months, 

 afford halting places for innumerable 

 sea fowl — geese, ducks, sheldrakes, and 

 the like, in their season. From Cohas- 

 set on the North throughout the Ply- 

 mouth territory on the South, the 

 coot shooting season lasts from the 

 opening of October to the advent 

 of December ; and probably more 

 of these sea fowl are killed here 

 within that season annually than 

 in all points elsewhere in the coun- 

 try. Fox hunting is still in vogue 

 on Cape Cod, and in a limited way 

 elsewhere in Southeastern Massa- 

 chusetts, many veteran hunters 

 making pilgrimage regularly to the 

 Cape Cod localities in this pursuit. 



A matter of special interest to 

 the sportsman and naturalist, or 

 to amateurs in these departments, 

 is that of the presence of birds and 

 game animals in various sections 

 of the Cape. The number of birds 



on Cape Cod is very great, and 

 among them are many rarely found 

 in the North. A summer vis- 

 itor who regularly visits Hyannis 

 Port reports a hundred and eighteen 

 varieties as observed by himself, many 

 of which he has shot and mounted. 

 The prairie warbler is often met 

 within the pine woods, and the Mary- 

 land yellow-throat is occasionally 

 seen in these sections. Among the 

 common birds are the meadow-lark or 

 marsh-quail, the finch, the red-winged 

 black-bird, the grass-finch, the green 

 -heron, the mackerel-gull, the night- 

 heron, the king-fisher, the whip- 

 poor-will, and the shore birds. A great 

 white-heron has been shot near Yar- 

 mouth, and a beast-bittern at Chatham. 

 The recesses of the woods contain 

 many owls. The snowy-owl is more 

 abundant in winter on Cape Cod, 

 Martha's A^ineyard, Nantucket and 

 Monomoy Island, than in any other 

 place of corresponding size in New 

 England. Eagles and hawk-owls are 

 sometimes seen on the Cape, while the 

 Carolina dove is common here. 



A ROAD ON CAI'E iul> 



