OF VICTORIA. 



209 



most sportsmen go abroad to shoot for a day or more. 

 One of my acquaintances, with two of his friends, accom- 

 panied by their best dogs, recently shot 728 birds in three 

 days; while about 1890, in the Western District, another 

 much stronger party, with 8 guns, shot 900 birds. The 



the field after such a time is 



ruin or young birds upon tne heJa arter such a 

 appalling, and I consider it is iniquitous to have such a 

 state of affairs as may be observed by anyone accompanying 

 a party of this nature. Some shooters are honourable, and 



js:p^ 



' '^^t-t»«- - 



'jy< 



Fig. 46. Stubble Quail, male and female. One-fourth natural size. 



allow poor fliers (young) to pass ; other.s are thoughtless. By 

 the shooting of quail in southern Victoria on the 1st of 

 March thousands of young chicks are left as orphans to 

 die. This I judge partly by the female birds showing a 

 bare breast that testifies to the late sitting upon her eggs. 

 From a humane point of view sportsmen might well -stay 

 their hands a little longer time, and put their evidence in 

 favour of prolonging the close season for another month. 

 For farmers to allow the birds on their land to be shot 



15 



