20 GAME AND ITS PROTECTION. 
myriads of migratory flocks, the mind would be 
astonished ; and it would*seem impossible ever to 
reduce their numbers. This is to a certain degree 
true ; for so long as the lagoons of the South shall 
remain undisturbed, and the shores of the bays and 
rivers unoccupied to any great extent, this abun- 
dance of the migratory birds will continue. But 
when the Southern shores shall be frequented with 
gunners as plenteously as those of Long Island and 
New Jersey, the last days of the bay-fowl will have 
arrived, 
At present we suffer more from improper modes 
of pursuit than from absolute scarcity of game. The 
habit of using “ batteries” in the South Bay of Long 
Island, and locating them on the feeding or sanding- 
grounds, has resulted in frightening away the birds. 
Where, a few years ago, ten ducks stopped in the 
water adjoining that famous sand-pit, there can 
hardly be found one at present. After being dis- 
turbed on their feeding-grounds by murderous dis- 
charges from an unseen foe in their midst, they 
become alarmed and leave the locality altogether. 
To be sure, for a year or so, the number killed from 
that ingenious mode of ambush will be enormous ; 
but it is at a terrible sacrifice of the supply, and will 
eventuate in ruin to those engaged in it. At pre- 
sent on Long Island it is hardly possible to obtain a 
decent day’s sport without using a “ battery ;” but 
in the South, along the Chesapeake and Potomac, 
where the use of these inventions has never been 
allowed, the ducks are as abundant as ever. 
