GAME AND ITS PROTECTION. 157 







But while sailing for ducks is wisely forbidden 

 by the laws of New York and of most of the older 

 States, that prohibition should not be stretched be- 

 yond the true meaning and intent of the statute. 

 Coots, the big black sea coot of the coast and his 

 congeners, not the little mud coot or blue peter of 

 the fresh waters, may be ducks from a scientific 

 point of view, but they were never intended to be 

 included in the prohibition. These dusky gentle- 

 men are wonderful divers, they swim under Avater 

 almost as readily and rapidly as they fly abov.e it, 

 and seek their food at the bottom. They do not so 

 much live on fish, in fact I have never noticed fish 

 in their stomachs, although some authorities say 

 that they feed on them, but they devour incredible 

 numbers of small clams, and oysters. They are not 

 content to take the full grown bivalve, two or three 

 of which would make a solid meal even for a vora- 

 cious coot, but they invariably select the tiny fel- 

 lows just starting in life, and of whom it takes a 

 great many to furnish forth a breakfast or dinner. 

 There is little sport in shooting these tough fellows, 

 and no sport except in killing them from a sailboat 

 when underway. 



In this chapter on the obligations that man owes 

 to his feathered friends, his naturalized assistants 

 must not be forgotten. The imported sparrow, 

 though small in himself, has done a great work for 

 our country, and still more for our cities. We all 

 know that gratitude is a fleeting sentiment, and 

 looks rather to things hoped for than to those 



