534 GAME BIRDS. WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



evening. They prefer to feed by daylight, although many 

 species also feed on moonlit nights. The surface-feeding 

 Ducks, however, can feed better at night than the diving Ducks, 

 which must have a good light in order to see their food at the 

 bottom. Fresh-water wild-fowl are harassed so much in the 

 daytime in Massachusetts that many of them fly to the salt 

 water by day, where, in the sounds or larger bays, or even at 

 sea, they can find rest; or they hide in swamps or go to reser- 

 voirs, where they are protected. Under these circumstances 

 they go to the fresh-water ponds, marshes or rivers mainly at 

 night, or when driven in by storms in the daytime. If they 

 are harassed at night in these retreats, and so deprived of the 

 opportunity to feed and drink, they will desert our inhospitable 

 coast and pass on to regions where, in the larger swamps 

 and fresh-water bays, they may find a greater degree of safety. 



Mr. E. T. Carbonnell writes that Geese were very plentiful 

 in the spring of 1909 on Kildare River, P. E. I. Day shoot- 

 ing merely frightened them up or down the river; but one 

 night a few shots were fired at them, and the next day not a 

 Goose was seen the whole length of the river. The same 

 thing happened in East River in the fall. 



Mr. Tallett, president of the Jefferson County, N. Y., 

 Sportsmen's Association, says that from his experience he 

 believes that in no way can the Black Duck be driven away 

 from a favorite breeding place more quickly than by night 

 shooting. The great preponderance of testimony given by 

 experienced gunners before legislative hearings in many 

 States is against night shooting of water-fowl and game 

 birds, and night shooting is now forbidden by law in many 

 regions. 



Audubon tells how night shooting where it was practiced 

 drove out the Prairie Chicken. It slays the Grouse while 

 budding and the roosting Wild Turkey, taking them at a 

 disadvantage at a time when they should never be disturbed 

 by the gunner. 



Wherever night shooting has been prohibited for a series 

 of years there is no difficulty in securing a bag of birds in 

 daylight. 



