236 SHOOTING THE DUCK AND THE GOOSE 







in vast numbers in the decoys, which are constantly 

 working near the coast. Recently considerable fric- 

 tion arose between the decoy owners and the punt- 

 gunners, with the result that a Government inquiry 

 was held, and the use of the punt-gun was prohibited 

 on public waters. The decoy owners wilfully mis- 

 represented that Dutch wild-fowl were being destroyed 

 in a wholesale fashion by English gunners, quietly 

 ignoring the fact that for every English there were at 

 least four Dutch gunners, poor men, who earned their 

 living by the pursuit of wild-fowl in winter. In the 

 course of the inquiry the fact was elicited that whilst 

 some 80,000 fowl were taken in the decoys, the total 

 obtained by all the gunners did not exceed 4,000 in 

 the previous year. 



The true reason of the decrease in the takings of 

 the decoys [is, first, their numbers, greatly augmented 

 during the last thirty years, and, secondly, the huge 

 reclamation-works carried out from time to time. 

 Of such, the Harlemmer Meer is an instance, where 

 in one fell swoop 100,000 acres of swamp, lake, and 

 reed beds were converted into corn-land. Rumour 

 has it that a scheme has also been propounded for 

 the reclamation of the Zuider Zee, which, if carried 

 out, must have far-reaching consequences on bird- 

 life in the Netherlands. 



