CHAPTER VIII. 



A COUNTRY like Canada, boasting a far larger extent 

 *-*' of lake and river than any other under the sun, will 

 be readily supposed to be inferior to none in the abundance 

 and variety of its waterfowl; and there are, I believe, 

 not less than thirty-three different species of swans, geese, 

 and ducks (exclusive of " divers") ; while of many of these 

 genera and species the individual numbers are almost 

 beyond belief in the districts where they breed, and 

 whence they are annually dispersed throughout the 

 country. 



Mr. Barnston, of the Hudson's Bay Company's 

 Service,* says, " It is very difficult to make any just 

 calculation of the number of geese in the northern breed- 

 ing grounds ; but it is known that the number killed on 

 the coast by the Indians and others as food, amounts to 

 about 74,000 annually; allowing for wounded birds 

 dying or being killed by wild animals, would make this 



* Can. Nat. Geo. Montreal, Oct., 1861. 



