240 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



droves of snowy geese, swans, and brant. Their 

 multitudes made an inspiring sight. 



As the colonies grew older and became more 

 firmly established, the settlers began to kill the 

 water-fowl on a large scale. The demands of 

 their increasing households called for greater 

 slaughter. Many people owned slaves who had to 

 be fed. Wild ducks and geese were cheap and not 

 difficult to procure, being easily trapped. Thou- 

 sands were slain for food. They became a staple 

 article of diet for slaves and indentured servants. 

 They graced the tables of the landed proprietors. 



As a result of this excessive diet of water-fowl, 

 the slaves on one estate in Maryland went on a 

 strike, refusing to work until they received a 

 promise that they should be fed no more wild 

 ducks. And paid servants made an agreement 

 with their masters that they should not be forced 

 to eat canvasbacks more than twice a week ! 



But, great as the slaughter was, it failed to make 

 a deep impression on the enormous flocks which in- 

 habited the great bays of the Atlantic coast. The 

 killing continued without abatement throughout 

 the early days of the United States, but as late as 

 1882 rafts of ducks a mile long were still observed 

 in Chesapeake Bay. And by that time, during the 

 open season for the birds, ten thousand people 

 daily gunned along the shores and marshes which 

 fringe that water. They were now using breech- 

 loaders, and the toll upon the ducks was heavy. 



