144 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 



dered at that the ducks which run the gauntlet of the 

 guns twice each year as they cross the United States, 

 and accept the invitation to winter at the haciendas 

 are diminishing. 



It is the fashion to shoot wild-fowl in the spring. 

 One or two States have already, to their credit, pro- 

 hibited shooting at this season, and the sportsmen are 

 more and more convinced that spring shooting should 

 be prohibited everywhere. The laws which have been 

 most beneficial to the ducks are those which prohib- 

 ited shooting for the market, the sale of game, the 

 use of the big guns and the shooting on the feeding 

 grounds and night shooting. 



We proceed to the marshes to pursue the swans, 

 the geese, the brant, and the ducks. 



