582 DUCK SHOOTING. 



may judge from the vast multitudes to be seen in the 

 swamps of the sunk land of Missouri and Arkansas. 



"In October of '94 a party of four from this city, 

 and four from Cincinnati, shot over one thousand 

 ducks in one week, and, from the hordes still seen, it 

 did not look as if any were missing. To the average 

 amateur, the piles of ducks would have looked like 

 three times the quantity, as nine-tenths of them were 

 choice mallards. 



"Nor were these all the ducks shot in this quiet and 

 celebrated spot that week. Five market-hunters were 

 in there all the time, and in this particular week aver- 

 aged from 80 to 140 ducks per day each. 



"A netter was also at work, who made a shipment of 

 twenty barrels of mallards at one time. Again, to the 

 average amateur, or even to the semi-professional, this 

 may sound fishy. If the receipts of the steamboat which 

 brought the ducks to this market will be proof, they 

 can be produced. The netter made no more shipments, 

 for the natives forced him out of the country with Win- 

 chesters. * * *" 



CAUSES. 



Two prime causes exist for the diminution of wild- 

 fowl. These are over-shooting, and the settling up of 

 the country. 



The abuses under the head of over-shooting which 

 ought to be corrected are : 



