UPLAJIP SHOOTING. 



169 



SUMMER WOODCOCK SHOOTING 



TIE wisdom of oar game laws has 

 tlccided that Woodcock shall be kill- 

 |\jS-^cd and taken, by all and sundry, in 

 the State of New- York, on and after 

 tlie first, in the State of New Jersey 

 on and after the fifth day of July; 

 .ilthough in the latter State the prac- 

 tice of the sovereign people has de- 

 termined that the fourth is the day intended by the enactment, 

 and on the fourth, accordingly, the slaughter commences. In 

 Pennsylvania, and Connecticut, practice at least, if not law — 

 and until recently, if there be now, there was no statute on the 

 subject — ^has prescribed the same, or nearly the same period, 

 for the commencement of Cock-shooting; and even in those 

 counties of New- York to which the enactment of these game 

 laws, such as they are, does not extend, tacit agreement has 

 prescribed the same regulation, at least among sportsmen. 



So far, indeed, has this practice been earned, that by means 

 of a convention of this sort, the shooting of Woodcock is ta- 

 booed, until the fourth of July, even in the islands of the Great 

 Lakes and the Detroit River. The example was set by the 

 officers, I believe, of the American and British gaiTisons at 

 Detroit and Amherstberg, acting in concert, and the practice 

 has almost become common law. 



The fact is, therefore, that everywhere through the United 

 States and the British Provinces, whether there is or is not any 

 distinct law on the subject, the commencement of July is aa 



