ON CONTINENTAL WATERS 223 



the bays and estuaries on the west coast of Ireland 

 swarmed with geese and widgeon. 



In consequence of the persecution to which they 

 are subjected in public waters wild-fowl are probably 

 much more shy and wary nowadays than they used 

 to be, and in open weather they resort largely to 

 those inland sanctuaries where they are but seldom 

 molested. The casual sportsman, who rambles about 

 the country with his dog and gun, declares there are 

 no ducks because he does not see them ; yet a mile 

 away, perhaps, in some snug retreat, ten thousand 

 fowl may be passing the day in peaceful security. 



In view of these facts it may be interesting to 

 inquire how our neighbours fare on the Continent, 

 where many of the natural haunts of fowl have been 

 preserved in spite of the inroads made by civilisation. 

 In his instructive work on wild-fowling, Folkard 

 remarks that 'Wild-fowl have always been more 

 abundant in some foreign countries than in England, 

 and it is natural that migratory birds should be more 

 inclined to settle in wild and thinly populated lands 

 than in such as are thickly inhabited and avariciously 

 cultivated as those of England.' There are, however, 

 other potent reasons which would account for the 

 abundance of wild-fowl on the coasts of Denmark, 

 Germany, and Holland, not the least important of 



