CANADA GOOSE. 267 



tions of the batteries on the feeding grounds. 

 It is not their entire extinction as a species which 

 is to be apprehended at the present day, breed- 

 ing so prolifically as they do in the desolate and 

 solitary regions of the north ; indeed many years 

 may elapse before they are even driven from the 

 flats, on which their favorite food in such pro- 

 fusion abounds ; in the growing dislike of the 

 democracy of the land to aught in the shape of 

 restrictive game laws, it is not very probable that 

 the honorable legislators of Maryland can be 

 brought to look so far into futurity, as to provide 

 acts by which wild fowl especially canvass- 

 backs may be allowed to take their food in 

 peace ; in the meantime, gentlemen will shoot, 

 and professionals strain every nerve to keep the 

 market supplied, while posterity must look out 

 for itself; consequently, every year the firing 

 from point, blind and battery is redoubled, and 

 every year the voice of remonstrance from those 

 citizens, who would fain see something done in 

 the season, to preserve this noble American 

 duck from being driven entirely from the waters 

 of the state, becomes less and less distinct. 



Shooting from the points or bars, over which 

 the ducks fly on their way to the flats, is claimed 

 by many as the only sportsmanlike and legiti- 



