202 



THE WATER-HEN 



FIG. 118. NETTING BIRDS AT A BRIDGE. 



is done by these birds, and a heron killed in 1907 was found to have 

 forty- two young trout in its crop. 



The heron and other fish-eating birds are taken by the heron 

 trap, Fig. 119, which is set under water, affixed on a stump in the 

 water, and, baited with a fish, a catch is ensured, 



CURLEWS, both " whaups " and " whimbrels," are usually shot, 

 their flesh being good eating. Only hurtful to fish. 



WATER-HENS exert benign influence on watercourses, by lakes 

 and their environs by consuming numerous pests, but their peregrina- 

 tions and depredations in watercress beds are intolerable, there- 

 fore recourse is had to the gun, trap, and snare. As the birds 

 swim or run through constantly frequented tracks which they 

 use in dense undergrowth or rushes, hair nooses attached to string 

 and stretched across such places are certain to effect captures. 



COOTS are particularly useful in destroying various pests that 



