222 REPOET OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



tions as have to be made. No one, unfortunately, could claim that such 

 a situation exists in Ontario to-day, and consequently the best that can 

 be done is to have comparatively short open seasons, in so far as pos- 

 sible, coincident with each other. Too short a season is, as already been 

 noted, objectionable on certain grounds, while a very protracted season 

 haK already proven itself too dangerous for certain birds under exist- 

 ing conditions. A six Aveeks' season for partridge and woodcock, from 

 October 15th to November 30th, and a four weeks' season for quail, from 

 November 1st to 30th, would, therefore, appear to be the nearest ap- 

 proach to the ideal which can at present safely be ventured. 



In regard to wild ducks, the open season for which extends from 

 September 15th to December 15th, it is to be noted that all of these 

 birds are more or less migratory, and that almost throughout the Pro- 

 vince their numbers have greatly diminished of recent years. Various 

 causes have been assigned for this; various remedies tried and sug- 

 gested; but no effort has as yet been made to strike at what is appar- 

 ently the root of the evil, namely, excessive destruction. The popularity 

 of the duck as a table dish and its former exceeding abundance resulted 

 in the development of an enormous market for the bird, and the demands 

 of this market show no signs ol diminishing in proportion to the 

 dwindling numbers of ducks, but on tlie contrary to be steadily increas- 

 ing. In fact, it would not be too much to say that in general it is the 

 market hunter who is chiefly to blame for the diminishing quantities of 

 ducks in the Province and not the sportsmen of the Province, the carp 

 or other extraneous circumstances. It is apparent that no matter what 

 size a marsh may be, the continued and energetic operations of the mar- 

 ket ihunter, resulting in the slaughter of great quantities of ducks prac- 

 tically every day, not only must effect a terrible drain on the ranks of 

 the ducks, but must also tend to drive them aAvay, for like other 

 creatures ducks require a modicum of rest and peace in order to remain 

 in a given locality. There can be little doubt but that the prohibition 

 of the sale of ducks would result in a very rapid augmentation of their 

 numbers, but it is unquestionable that such a measure would encounter 

 a storm of protest and abuse. Moreover, the object of conservation is 

 not to deprive the public of game, but rather to insure that the public 

 shall be able to take advantage of it. In certain cases where a variety 

 of game becomes very scarce it becomes imperative to place restrictions 

 on its sale in order to eliminate the market hunter, but such a measure 

 is, in a sense, but a final recourse, for though under it the public are still 

 afforded opportunities to obtain game, if they will, by shooting, or if 

 they can, as a gift from friends who have done so, the majority of the 

 public is, in all probability, not in a position to secure the game, and in 

 consequence is deprived of it altogether. This situation has, indeed, 

 given rise to a more or less widesp'read feeling that sport is the rich 

 man's pastime, and game the rich man's perquisite, and that the game 

 laws are devised in the interests of the wealthier classes of the commun- 



