OF NATURAL HISTORY OF CANADA 29 



trying to form a correct estimate of their numbers, and the lowest 

 was about one hundred thousand birds an hour. Xo need foJ 

 bird sanctuaries in these regions; there are abundance of natural 

 ones. In populated districts it may be necessarj' to protect certain 

 species, the eider duck, for instance, and reser\'e some specially 

 Reeled islands where one or more guardians would have to reside. 

 By proper management these sanctuaries would give in a few 

 years sufficient revenue to pay all expenses. 



I refer you to my open letter to the Honorable Minister of 

 Colonization published in the Chronicle in January-, 1906. I 

 considered then and still do so, that the only means of con- 

 trolling the transportation or sale of game was by issuing 

 licenses to everyone using firearms for sporting purposes. The 

 present coupon system without a license number leaves too many 

 doors open for fraud and illegal shooting of large game especially. 



I would be pleased to write you more at length on many other 

 subjects, but it would take a small volume to cover all the ground 

 properly. 



In the meantime if you desire to use or publish any part of 

 this letter, you are free to do so. 



Sincerely yours, 



NAP.-A. COMEAU 



WILSON'S SNIPE (Gallinago delicata) 



Wilson's snipe is a bird of fresh-water swamp and meadow, 

 in which it finds concealment among the grass or grassy tussocks. 

 It is particularly fond of places where the soil is boggj- enough to 

 permit probing with its sensitive bill, for it finds much of its food 

 beneath the surface in the shape of succulent worms. Owing to 

 the nature of its haunts and its secretive habits, the snipe is familiar 

 to but few outside the guild of sportsman. Even nature lovers 

 know the bird chiefly by its sharp "scaip scaip," as it flushes sud- 

 denly among the grasses. So quickly does the snipe get under 

 way that one is apt to catch only a glimpse of a brown and black 

 body at it cuts the air on powerful wings with many a twist and 

 turn. It is this particular flight that endears the snipe to the 

 sportsman, since a steady hand and a quick eye are needed to stop 

 the bird when bent on escaping from a dangerous neighborhood. 

 No one, however, who has marked the steady decline in the number 

 of snipe that migrate across our territor\^ can doubt that the con- 

 tinuance of spring shooting means the extinction of this highly-prized 

 game. 



(Henby W. Henshaw) 



