CONSERVATION OF GAME BIRDS. 539 



up their stands and go out of business were the use of live de- 

 coys prohibited. As it is, many flocks never stop at all. Dr. 

 John C. Phillips has kindly given me records from three stands 

 which show the number of Ducks and Geese shot, the number 

 alighting in the ponds and the number seen passing. These 

 records do not show such destruction of birds as one might 

 be led to expect from the accounts of those who do not par- 

 ticipate in this kind of shooting. None of these records, how- 

 ever, would compare in numbers killed with those seen or shot 

 at Silver Lake, or others of the larger ponds. In 1908 Dr. 

 Phillips finds that only fourteen Geese were killed at Wenham 

 Lake and ninety-six at Oldham Pond, while three hundred 

 and twenty-five were shot at Silver Lake. There are many 

 days when the pond gunner does not get a shot, and some 

 seasons when he gets few birds. The sport is often a costly 

 one, and the outgo probably far exceeds the income. Never- 

 theless, there can be no excuse for excessive shooting. Even 

 birds have some rights, and they should be given a chance for 

 their lives. They should have the opportunity to drink and 

 feed in these ponds unmolested at night, and the sportsmen 

 should see to it that any objectionable and unnecessary fea- 

 tures of pond shooting are eliminated. If the sale of wild- 

 fowl were prohibited by law it probably would reduce the 

 number of birds killed by stand shooting. 



The Elements: Storms and Cold. 



Unseasonable storms and cold winters sometimes destroy 

 tremendous numbers of birds, and their effect is felt period- 

 ically by the Woodcock and the Bob-white particularly. Cold 

 and wet breeding seasons terribly deplete the game birds. Any 

 species, the increase of which is destroyed every year by 

 shooting, will soon disappear if unable to raise its young. A 

 single cold, wet breeding season will reduce a species from 

 a condition of abundance to one of scarcity, as was the case 

 with the Ruffed Grouse in 1907. If the birds were unmolested 

 by the gunners for a few years thereafter they would soon 

 regain their former abundance; but if shooting is continued. 



