162 



MUTTON BIRDS 



CHAPTER XIX, 

 OUTLAWED. 



:CEPT on my own lake at Tutira, 

 I believe there is no part of New 

 Zealand where the destruction of 

 Shags is not thought to be a 

 righteous action. Everywhere these 

 unfortunate birds are persecuted as the 

 destroyers of fish, and fish they do un- 

 doubtedly take. On our rivers and fresh 

 water lakes they are believed to harm the 

 imported trout, and on our seas to be a menace 

 to the fisherman's interests, and it may indeed 

 happen that in some districts, under certain 

 conditions, and for a time, Shags are harmful. 

 Those, however, who have most closely observed 

 the conduct of feeding Shags believe that the 

 captures made in waters where both trout and 

 eels abound are generally of the latter. 



On the salmon rivers of Scotland, the Dipper 

 used to be shot down until he was proved to be 

 not an enemy but a guardian of the salmon ova. 

 In Victoria, too, the destruction of Shags has 

 resulted, not in an increase, but very great 

 decrease of fish in the Murray River, its billa- 

 bongs, and lakes. 



Anglers and fishermen, like the rest of 

 mankind, are but too prone to rush to conclu- 

 sions based on insufficient evidence, and both in 



