226 EEPORT OF ONTAEIO GAME Xo. 52 



should not in general be allowed to fall below one to four or five, and 

 also that it is at all times expedient to kill oft" old hens, as these will 

 frequently interfere with the breeding of younger hens. Consequently 

 the percentage of cock birds available for breeding in the spring 'should 

 be roughly ascertained, and, if it is found to be unduly small, provision 

 might be made for this contingency when next an open season is de- 

 clared, either by throwing open one or two w^eeks of the season to the 

 shooting of both cocks and hens, reserving the remainder of the season 

 for the shooting of cocks only, or else by allowing the shooting of hen 

 birds, in addition to cocks, on certain days of the week throughout the 

 season. The pheasant is such a handsome bird and provider such fine 

 sport, in addition to being so highly esteemed a table delicacy, that it is 

 a matter for congratulation that it is catching on so well in certain por- 

 tions of the Province, and it is well worth while taking some little pains 

 to insure its perpetuation. 



The prairie chicken, which formerly was comparatively plentiful 

 throughout a great portion of the Rainy River District, has now prac- 

 tically become extinct in that region. Various causes have been assigned 

 for this, but it would seem as usual to have been mainly the fault of in- 

 discriminate and excessive slaughter. The prairie chicken is a magnifi- 

 cent game bird, and equally popular for table purposes, and in addition 

 to the areas in the Rainy River District there are other portions of the 

 Province where it would, in all probability, thrive. It is not so nervous 

 a bird as the ruffed grouse, and far more easily domesticated. Moreover, 

 as it prefers the open to the woods it would be unlikely to materially 

 affect the grouse or partridge, and in addition is a most valuable bird to 

 the agriculturist. It would seem, therefore, that it might well be worth 

 while to try and reintroduce this bird into Ontario. 



The question of private game preserves is one that merits some little 

 attention. In this Province the principle has been adopted of keeping 

 the shooting on Crown lands open to the public, and of not alienating 

 the sporting rights over them to private individuals or clubs. There 

 can be no question that this policy is both the wisest and the fairest in 

 the interests of the general public. As, hoAvever, sections of the coun- 

 try become po])ulated and taken up by the agriculturist, the areas of 

 Crown lands in them inevitably become diminished or disappear, and 

 the question of game in such areas is on an altogether different footing 

 to that prevailing over the great bulk of the Crown wild lands. The 

 farmer has the right to post his lands, and if he is fond of shooting Avill 

 probably do so if there is any game to shoot, more especially so should 

 he have taken any measures to produce or maintain that game. More- 

 over, such stretches of public lands as there are in these districts are 

 peculiarly accessible to the hunter, and the difficulty, therefore, of main- 

 taining a supply of game in them is materially enhanced. In fact, in 

 the settled portions of the Province it would seem that the only practical 

 means of perpetuating the game lies in a measure of individual, in addi- 



