158 The Wild-Fowlers 



greedy bag to save his reputation as a 

 mighty fieldman or angler. Such de- 

 stroyers may not have been so objection- 

 able a hundred years ago, when game 

 swarmed the land, but their practices to- 

 day, when game is so scarce and becom- 

 ing scarcer every day, are criminal, and 

 sportsmen must join forces and make laws 

 say so. But, enough of this for the pres- 

 ent, say I. Do you gun the same in win- 

 ter as in the fall, Doctor, here in the 

 Great South Bay ?" 



44 Yes; pretty much/' replied Doctor 

 Bradley. " Some of the baymen and one 

 or two hardy sportsmen I know of shoot 

 in mid-winter, even when the bay is filled 

 with snow and ice. They then dress all 

 in white and look like just so much snow, 

 and " 



" An' kill lots o' birds," added the old 

 Captain; "more 'n is shooted in th' 

 spring er any other time o' year, but it 's 

 cold sport, mighty cold, I tell yer. But 

 come, genelmen, yer double battery be 



